


Snake's Nest

by PanderrynRose



Series: Snake's Nest [1]
Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Assassin Shiota Nagisa, Blow Jobs, Developing Relationship, First Time Blow Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Little shaky with that last episode, M/M, Mostly Cannon Compliant, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Politican!Karma, Smut, Tags May Change, assassin!Nagisa, little bit of fluff in the middle, the governments of the world suck in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:22:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 56,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PanderrynRose/pseuds/PanderrynRose
Summary: While working toward his goal of becoming a teacher, a curve-ball sets Shiota Nagisa loose with no ability to right himself. Set adrift, Nagisa has to return to a world he'd thought he'd left behind years ago in middle school. When he's handed a assignment for a corrupt politician, he thinks nothing of it until he sees the bright red hair.*This work is complete and will be updated every few days at the author's whims*
Relationships: Akabane Karma & Nakamura Rio, Akabane Karma/Shiota Nagisa, Class 3-E & Shiota Nagisa, Irina Jelavić & Shiota Nagisa, Irina Jelavić/Karasuma Tadaomi
Series: Snake's Nest [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878115
Comments: 62
Kudos: 321





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NoteInABottle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoteInABottle/gifts).
  * Inspired by [A Contract Between Killers](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276) by [NoteInABottle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoteInABottle/pseuds/NoteInABottle). 



> This work was inspired by "A Contract Between Killers" by NoteInABottle. Please give the original a read, it's great!!  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114#workskin

Pencils scribbling on paper was the only sound Nagisa Shiota expected while he worked through his test for his early childhood development mid-term. The opening of a door, with the presence of familiarity he’d not had for a few years had him lifting his head from his test to glance up to see who’d entered his classroom. And shock took over him, before dread. _Something bad is going down._

Professor Bitch—Irina Yelivich—had walked into his classroom, done up in her old pantsuit that showed off all her assets. Her large back purse had a few visible tissues poking out, and her eyes and nose looked red.

Seeing Nagisa looking up, Professor Bitch smiled at Nagisa’s teacher as he protested her entry. “Miss, we’re in the middle of a final. Can I help you?”

Turning on her charm, Professor Bitch simply offered a shy smile. _She’s acting closer to the defenseless damsel she put on when she first met Koro-Sensei. Why?_

Bending over to take a tissue when it was offered, she dabbed gently at the corner of her eyes. “I’m so sorry, but I needed to get my nephew. His friend has been attacked and well….” Letting a few tears fall, she reached up to gently rub them away as she bounced from foot to foot as if impatient. “They’re saying it’s not looking good. We wanted to give him a chance to say goodbye.”

The teacher was enamored with Professor Bitch, which had Nagisa laughing to himself. _She’s still got it._

“Of course, who is your nephew? He can reschedule his mid-term.” His professor offered her a tissue box.

“Nagisa? Sweetie, don’t give me a hard time. I know it’s an important test, but…” Letting a few more tears fall, she reached out to him. “We… need to hurry.”

Recognizing the code, Nagisa quickly grabbed his bag. Standing, he made his way to the front. Putting on a panicked tone, he asked “How long do we have?”

A flash of approval flashed in Professor Bitch’s baby blue eyes and she reached out to pull him to her side. “’Not long, we need to leave now.”

“Shiota, contact me when you can make up the test.” The teacher said, as Professor Bitch steered Nagisa out the door. The moment it closed behind her, she grabbed her bag and pulled out a black hoodie. “Put this on. Now. Put the hood up.”

Taking it from her, Nagisa did as she asked. “What’s going on?”

“I’m assuming you don’t need to be caught up about all of the dust-up about how killing the octopus was a bad idea.” Professor Bitch said, and nodded at Nagisa’s wince.

He knew all too well what she was saying. After the facts about Koro-Sensei got out, stories of a savior octopus abounded: Koro-sensei hadn’t been idle when away from his students. He’d built homes for those who’d needed them. He’d donated time to laboratories working on cures from everything from AIDS to Zits, advancing science in every corner by running tests and helping to improve diagnostics. He’d helped improved emergency systems in developing countries, saving lives. When it came out that he’d been killed because of fear, the community slowly went from ‘that’s understandable’ to ‘why would you kill such an amazing creature’ and had spiraled from there into demonstrations and riots in his name. As the Government had become more and more desperate, they’d turned on the class that had finished Koro-sensei, claiming that the students had acted without the government’s permission.

The government now claimed that they’d built the laser to keep Koro-Sensei safe as as they’d discussed the new research that proved it was unlikely for Koro-Sensei to detonate. They claimed that the students had broken in and killed their teacher before they’d could stop it, and the testimony from all of the attack squads helped mingle truth and fiction. As such, Nagisa had had more than a few street encounters with men and women coming up to yell and scream and threaten him.

“Well, the governments involved have been taking a lot of heat and they want a way to appease the public. To do that, they’re offering up a sacrifice. You.” Professor Bitch said, eyes scanning as she led him away from his classroom. “It’s a time-honored ploy: blame a singular figure and direct all the anger and rage onto that figure. Since they didn’t technically land the killing blow, they can claim that they changed their minds and did not fire off the laser and there’s no physical evidence that they did. They’re also blaming you for the death of Shiro, saying that you didn’t want his research to re-start and create more superbeings for some stupid reason I won’t begin to try to understand. Suffice it to say, they’re after you.”

Holding up the pause signal, she had them wait as students passed. “I’m here as a distraction---who would notice you when I’m here—and to get you out. Kayano has OK’d the use of her apartment as a stop gap until everyone is able to assemble and discuss what we do. How we work this. All of Class 3-E will be gathering by the end of the night.”

Flashing a grin as bright as the sun, Professor Bitch enamored everyone the two encountered on their way to the car, making sure to leave the impression of the open, bubbly woman she’d opted to use when joining class 3-E. Reaching the car, she dropped the act.

“Alright. You’re in deep shit, Nagisa. You may need to leave the country. But that won’t be easy, as multiple governments are trying to pin the blame on you. For now, none of us have the ability to contest the charges. And if you go in, you’re not going to come out. The government doesn’t leave scapegoats alive. Believe me, I know.” Professor Bitch said, backing up the non-descript black sedan. “So, we think there’s just one option: you run. You run hard and fast. The rest from 3-E work on our case against the state. When we’re ready, you come back. We all testify and get it on record that we were ordered to kill the octopus. Problem solved; we move on.”

“What am I supposed to do on the run?” Nagisa asked, eyes wide. “I won’t have papers or anything. No skills or otherwise.”

“We’ve got a counterfeiter working on documents for you. We’ll hammer out the hard details in about an hour when we get them. We plan on shipping you off to England where Nakamura Is studying.” Professor Bitch drove quickly as she explained, pulling up to a gated community and buzzing them in with a flash of her grin. Parking in a private spot, she led Nagisa upstairs. “Until we can safely move you, we’re keeping you hidden. Kayano said that her community is extremely strict with who they let in, so it’s unlikely for you to be taken from here. She also said she’s claimed to have a contractor coming over to look at her kitchen to do an upgrade, so it won’t be strange for people to be entering her apartment while she’s filming.”

Quietly, they once again made their way through the hallways with Professor Bitch turning on the charm with every person to leave an impression of her and nothing of her companion. Upon reaching Kayanos, she shuffled him in and shut the door with a huge gripe. “Jesus, why is everyone out today of all days?”

Nagisa was still processing everything he’d been told. “How long do you think it’ll take for this to blow over?”

Professor Bitch looked at him, as she shook a cigarette out from a carton. “I don’t know, Shiota. I won’t lie to you; it could take a while.”

“What about my parents? My schooling?” Nagisa asked, shock and nerves sending him down to the couch for support.

“That doesn’t matter right now. Right now, your life is the concern. You can deal with all of that later.” Professor Bitch said, keeping an eye on her phone. Turning on the TV to a news station, the two stayed glued to it in order

Sinking into anxiety-ridden calm, Nagisa kept still and let horror wash over him as he realized the extent of the blame being placed on his shoulders. A smear campaign painted him as a deviant. Violent and angry, he’d lashed out at the kindly teacher who tried to guide him after he’d been given the power over life and death. When the government had ordered the class to stand down, Nagisa had been the one to lead them to kill Koro-sensei in spite of the orders to not kill him. Once again, the squads that had guarded the old campus corroborated the story.

“They believe this?” Nagisa gaped as his character was strung up and slashed in the public eye. Reaching for his backpack, Nagisa pulled out a notebook to write to his parents. _I have to tell them that none of this is true._

“The media and government never lie, Shiota.” Professor Bitch said, sarcasm heavy. “Anyway, I’ll bleach your hair later so it isn’t as obvious.”

Slumping back against the couch, Nagisa stared down at his hands as he realized something. “My stuff, my yearbook from Koro-sensei is at my apartment. I don’t want to lose those things.”

“Don’t worry, Karma is there collecting the important stuff.” Professor Bitch said, looking over from the TV. “I know this is awful, but we’ll do our best to help you.”

“Thank you.” Nagisa said, unsure of what else he could say.

The day passed, with papers arriving via courier. Professor Bitch then drilled Nagisa on his new name and backstory. After a few hours, Nagisa was handed a bag with cash and clothes.

“Put your passport in the bag.” Professor Bitch said, glancing to the front door. “We’re headed to the airport while the others provide cover as a class meet-up.”

“I understand. Can you deliver this for me?” Nagisa asked, handing Professor Bitch the letter to his parents he’d written as he’d waited.

“To your parents?” Professor Bitch asked, smiling at Nagisa when he nodded. “Of course.”

The drive to the airport was unnerving as both kept eyes out for any police or other agents following them. When none showed, both heaved a sigh of relief. Upon arriving at the drop-off location for departing passengers, Nagisa turned to Professor Bitch. “Thank you.”

Professor Bitch nodded. “Let us know when you get there, OK? The phone has our numbers in it.”

Picking up the bag, Nagisa nodded in promise “Goodbye.”

Making his way inside, Nagisa quickly picked up the ticket he’d been given, and made his way through security to his gate. His plane boarded less than ten minutes after he’d gotten there. As the plane took off, Nagisa shivered a bit as a chill took over him. Staring out at the receding ground, Nagisa felt loss flood him. Doing his best to not draw attention to himself, Nagisa put his head down and let the tears fall as he mourned his loss.

The flight itself felt as if it was being drug on forever, with Nagisa being unable to check in with anyone as the flight progressed. With a brief break to make his connecting flight, Nagisa was able to quickly search for what had happened in Japan that night.

As it turned out, the government had raided the class meet up and the two entities had clashed hard. When Nagisa hadn’t been there, the agents had arrested everyone even though other patrons at the restaurant had told authorities that the students hadn’t done anything.

Feeling guilt take over, Nagisa climbed on his next plane and made his way to his seat. As it turned out, the agents in charge of looking for him hadn’t been able to pin down his movements and were now scrambling to shut down airports and other transportation out of the country.

Shock had begun to set in as Nagisa moved stiffly, and was exhausted. Putting his head down, he slept through the remainder of his flight to England.

Waking up as the plane was landing, Nagisa pulled his bag from the overhead compartment and put it over his shoulder. Shuffling off the plane like a robot, Nagisa made his way through customs while nearly holding his breath. Upon reaching the outside, Nagisa was greeted with a terrible view.

Nakamura, in her pair of sweats and a loose sweater, was being handcuffed and put in the back of a police car. Nagisa saw her gaze scan over the crowd and find him, only to continue on. _She’s protecting me by not seeing me._

As he walked away, he caught a bit of what was being said as he walked away with his head down.

“Rio Nakamura, your student license is being revoked and you will be deported back to Japan. For a standard of five years, you will not be allowed back into this country…” The officer droned on as Nagisa made his way back into the airport and to the public transportation section. Catching a bus, he watched out the window as federal vehicles pulled up to the area as his bus rolled away. Climbing off at a stop where he knew there were a bunch of cheap, less-than-reputable hotels, Nagisa made his way to the sleaziest and paid for a room. The concierge didn’t even ask for identification, just handing him a key and waving him away. “Room’s to the left and up the stairs. Make sure to use your door chain.”

Taking the worn key, Nagisa nodded. “Understood.”

Feeling the malicious gazes on him, Nagisa quietly made his way to the room and unlocked the door. Slamming it shut behind him, he locked and slid the tiny chain that offered a false sense of security to only the uninformed.

Glancing at the rickety bed, Nagisa pulled out the chair and sat down. _What do I do now? If they know I came here, they probably know what my ‘name’ is and will be scouring for me in all potential location for me. I have no idea where the black market operates here so I can’t just buy new identification, nor would I be able to afford it._

Reaching for his bag, Nagisa pawed through it. _Passport, clothes…hair dye._

_R_ eaching up, Nagisa tugged on his bright blonde hair. “I guess….” _If they know my false identity, they know what color hair I have. Time to change it._

Picking up the dye, Nagisa carried it into the yellowed and stained bathroom to dye it to a less bright color.

Twenty minutes later, Nagisa stared at himself in the mirror as his hair went to a light brown that reminded him of the Kunugigaoka’s little mascot. _There are worse colors to have hair._ Nagisa reminded himself as he felt as if a piece of him had been taken away. _Besides, hair grows back. I can always get back to my natural color._

As he walked out of the disgusting bathroom, Nagisa picked up on the sound of multiple cars flying either up or down the road. Hearing some breaks screech, Nagisa felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. _They’ve found me._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. Please check out the work that inspired this one: A Contract Between Killers By NoteInABottle. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114#workskin

Pulling on the black hoodie and picking up his bag, Nagisa quietly made it to the window on the side of his room. Hearing footsteps pounding and door being opened all around him, he pushed the screen out, carefully placing it on the floor so it wouldn’t make any noise, and dropped as quietly as possible to the alley below. With little else to do, he made his way down the alley and out to the street. Walking as if everything was normal, Nagisa made his way to the bus stop where he felt someone reach out and grab him. Reacting on instinct, Nagisa pulled away and lashed out with a fast kick.

“Good. Very good.” The non-descript man in light blue button-down shirt and black slacks said, smiling. “You still have it, Mr. Shiota.”

“Who are you?” Nagisa said, as a memory tugged on him. 

“I can’t say I’m surprised you don’t remember me. I go by Smog in most cases. We met back when I poisoned your classmates.” At the smile Smog offered Nagisa had him raise an eyebrow.

“What do you want?” Nagisa asked, not willing to trust someone he knew was a free-lance assassin without a good reason. _If it’s true there are assassins out for me, this is not good._

“My company has become aware of your situation. They’re willing to help, if you’re willing to join up. But let’s move this to a safer location. Our company isn’t the only interested party, nor was it the only one to receive the potential hit on you.” Smog said, watching as the bus pulled up. “The agents on your tail won’t stay at that hotel for long, either.” Turning the man started to walk away.

With few other options present, Nagisa followed the man as he wished desperately for a weapon of his own so he wasn’t so vulnerable. _What I wouldn’t give for just a small knife or something._

Upon arriving at a parking lot, Smog led Nagisa to another sedan. The brown car’s tinted windows had Nagisa on edge as Smog spoke. “Get in. It’ll take us awhile to get to the headquarters here.”

Feeling a chill take over him, Nagisa complied. _I don’t have a choice right now._

Smog said little to Nagisa as the two traveled. “I have to say, kiddo, I’m sorry this happened to you.”

Nagisa looked up before looking back out the window. “So am I.”

That was it until about a half-an-hour later when Smog asked him a question. “Have you decided on a call name?”

“No?” Nagisa said, turning to him. “I haven’t even accepted the proposal yet!”

“Kid, at this point you don’t have much choice. I know you could contact your buddies back home but if you do, you’ll be taken in. And from what I’ve heard from others in my business, they are planning on hunting you down, both legally and illegally. I wouldn’t suggest contacting anyone from your old life. They’ve already been taken in to custody and are no doubt being watched. When the government tries to plant something on someone, they get it to stick. I’ve heard rumors of a hit being put on you by not just your government, but by others as well. Best not to tempt fate.” Smog said, watching Nagisa out of the corner of his eyes as he drove. “I know this isn’t what you or your teacher wanted for you, but if it comes down to fighting and staying alive or lying down and dying, I know which one your old teachers and classmates would want for you.”

_There’s always a way._ Moments from his time in class 3-E bubbled up, from the first time he’d met Koro-Sensei, to the times when things to tough. Each time, they’d prevailed because they’d tried. “Alright. But I still have no idea on what to call myself.”

“You’re most proficient with blades, correct? I’d go with something related to that. You can always change it later. Why not go for something that looks innocent but isn’t?”

“Like a Coral snake?” Nagisa asked, remembering one time that Hinano had talked about snakes and how to tell a closely related venomous and non-venomous snake apart.

“Actually, that would be rather perfect for you. Looks harmless, but isn’t.” Smog replied, pulling into a spat of business offices. “We’re here. I’ll escort you up.”   
“Why help me?” Nagisa asked, looking up at the assassin.

“Because my company is interested in you, and I believe that you could be an amazing assassin.” Smog said, looking over at the young man. “And I think letting you go to jail and get killed is a waste.”

Finding he had no words for that, Nagisa climbed out with his bag. “Lead the way, sir.”

Leading the way to the elevator and up, Smog said little beyond a general comfort. “I’ll likely be your main contact to get settled after they approve you. I’ll be here to help you and train you in a few areas to bring you back up to speed. You’re used to working in a group, so a few of your solo skills could use work, Snake.”

“Understood.” Nagisa said, shivering a bit.

Smog noticed the shiver as the two exited the elevator. “We’ll get you properly equipped once you get out of the meeting. It’s a little colder here than you’re probably used to.”

“Understood.” Nagisa repeated, keeping his eyes forward.

Leading Nagisa to a board room, Smog knocked and led the young man in. “Sirs, you asked me to bring him in.”

“Good, Smog. We appreciate it. You can wait for him downstairs.” The man who sat at the head of the conference table motioned Nagisa forward and started to speak in Japanese. “Young man, your old teacher has landed you in a rather hot pot of water. I just have one question for you: Do you want to survive it?”

_That’s a trap. How do I answer?_ “I do.” He said, unsure of any other potentially ‘safe’ answer.

“That’s good. We are happy to offer you a place in our organization. While we’d take a certain cut of your profits, we’ll be able to more consistently provide jobs. We’re also not adverse to you taking on a few side jobs as we’re open to freelancers here.” The grin the man sent his way had Nagisa taking measure of the man.

_Dangerous, but not like the assassins. He speaks well, so he’s been educated. Physically he doesn’t look like much but that’s not an actual indicator. Given that he’s apparently the head here, he’s smart. Don’t underestimate him._

“I’m not an assassin. I haven’t been one in years. While I do still have the basic training, I doubt I would be much use as an assassin.” Nagisa said, carefully measuring his words.

“That’s not an issue, we provide…’training’ of a sort.” The man’s grin went evil. “Besides that, we also provide ‘protection’ for those who can afford it. It’s not as lucrative as assassinations, but what can I say? We’re a well-rounded company who invests in more than one path.”

_Maybe I’d be able to do that, avoid killing._ “I’d be happy to use my skill that way. If I can vette any potential jobs I do, I will happily agree to your offer.”

“Excellent.” The man at the head glanced at the other two members of his company at the table.

The woman to his left that Nagisa had paid as much attention to spoke. “We’d offer you a cut of up to 40 percent of your earnings on any job, with the company being the main benefactor. You’d be responsible for housing and medical on your own, but that won’t be a problem. The company covers transportation to and from jobs, as well as new identities and papers whenever you need them. Given your current predicament, we will begin constructing one immediately.”

The other man on the head’s left spoke next. “We work around the world and you may be called to learn any language or skill as necessary. But given your background I have little problem believing you’ll figure it out.”

The three at the head of the table grinned. “Welcome to the organization, Mr. Shiota. Do you have a code name that we can refer to you as?”

“Coral Snake.” Nagisa said, glancing around the room. “Is there paperwork I need to sign?”

“Of course. We’ll deliver it to Smog, who will in turn give it to you. Our contract stipulates our rates, and give you an outline of our policies. Not that they’re legally enforceable—we’d have to tell the courts what we do if we did that—but with assassins at our disposal, we can enforce them in different ways. For example, if you go to the authorities, we will target not only you but a few select friends of yours as well. We also have a ‘retirement’ policy where if an assassin goes quiet for too long that we assume they’ve been taken in or have gone to the authorities as well. Same rules apply as the last time. We usually say that two weeks without check in if the assassin is uninjured, and two and half months if they are. Keep it in mind, Snake.” The head said, offering an evil grin. “We’ll have your new trainer meet you and Smog downstairs. You can head back to the lobby.”

“Yes, sir.” Nagisa said, moving to the door.

“And Snake? We’ll send you three jobs soon. Make sure to choose one of them.” The head commanded as Left and Right nodded.

Exiting the room, Nagisa carefully re-traced his steps back to the elevator bank and took the next available elevator down. As the elevator descended, Nagisa dreaded what came next. W _hat if they send me only assassinations? I’m not going to kill kids or innocents. But what if that’s my only option?_

So lost in his thoughts, Nagisa didn’t notice when someone else joined him in the elevator. The man was a bear of a man, smile just a bit off as he stared at the young man.

“Well, well, well!” The sound of Takaoka’s chipper tone had Nagisa falling into a panic and reaching to hit the next floor button so he could get away.  
Reaching out, Takaoka grabbed his wrist and squoze it to the point of nearly breaking it. “Ah-ah! Nice try, you little snake. You won’t get out of this that easily. You owe me. After we last parted ways, I’ve paid the price for your incompetence. After I came to after our last encounter, I was stuck in prison. I don’t understand why the company hired you, but I’ll make damn sure you’re actually up to snuff before I let you out on a job. Don’t want you to embarrass our company your first time out.”

Fear settled into Nagisa’s gut. _Shit, got to get out of this._ “Does breaking my arm help you forward my training?”

Takaoka snarled, gripping tighter for a second. “Yes. You need to be able to handle pain. Might as well get used to it.” As the elevator dung the ground floor, Nagisa slammed his foot down on Takaoka’s to get him to release. Bolting out of the elevator, he made his way to Smog who looked up as he heard Nagisa’s pace.

“Did it go OK, Mr. Snake?” Smog’s gentle question was nearly overshadowed by the roar that followed Nagisa.

“YOU LITTLE SHIT.” Takaoka came toward Nagisa. “You’ll pay for that.”

Nagisa carefully took up the defensive stance he’d learned under Karasuma. “No, I won’t. I don’t require your training.”

Takaoka laughed, grin maniacal. “That’s not your decision, Snake.”

Nagisa glared back. “It is. I’ve been through the training you put others through. Most of what I need is how to blend in. And that, from what I can figure out, falls to Smog. He’s the one who doesn’t stand out. My combat skills are fine.”

Smog didn’t say anything, but Nagisa could see the grin he had on in the corner of his eye.

Takaoka shook his head. “If you want to take it up with cooperate, that’s your choice. But I’ll make you the same deal as last time. If you apologize, I’ll let it go.”

“That’s a trap, and I don’t owe you anything.” Nagisa hissed, shuddering as the cold wind that blew in from the front door washed over him. “Goodbye, Mr. Takaoka.”

Takaoka’s gaze went wild as he lunged forward and grabbed Nagisa. “WE”RE OVER WHEN I SAY, SNAKE.” The world receded under a dark veil when Nagisa’s temple connected with the wall as Takaoka threw him against.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! If you're enjoying this, I would highly recommend the work that inspired this one: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114#workskin

Waking up, Nagisa knew he was in deep, deep trouble. He was face down on what felt like a long, metal table, and his shirt had been stripped from him so his skin met the metal. _An operating table?_

From what little he was able to move his eyes to look around, it appeared as if he were in some type of medical facility if not for the madly grinning Takaoka sitting in the corner with a three-sided bayonet that had been converted into a makeshift knife. “Welcome back, Lil’ Snake. This is your first lesson.”

Standing Takaoka made his way to keel in front of Nagisa. “You’ve been dosed with a custom drug, designed to paralyze you but make it so you can feel. It may dull your senses, but you’ll be grateful when I teach you this lesson. You need to learn what it’s like to have everyone staring at you, judging you. So, you won’t flinch if a crowd looks at you! And I know how to make it so everyone looks at you: You need some scars. Visible ones. But because I want to get it right when they’re visible, I’m going to practice on your back first, and the paralytic should help with the pain. At least a bit.” Takaoka began to snicker. “I’m so thoughtful!” The big grin Takaoka had truthfully scared Nagisa. The hand running up and down his back made it worse.

“Don’t worry.” Takaoka assured him as he ran his hand down Nagisa’s back. “I won’t do anything else. I’m not a fag. You’re safe. But it’s time you learned to respect how hard you made life for me.”

Unable to move or do anything, Nagisa felt the bayonet puncture his back, close to his hips. He couldn’t do much—couldn’t even scream—as it was drug up his back cutting deeply along his spine.

“Well, I have to say that you’re going to have some gorgeous scars, Snake. I don’t’ think I got that one right. Hang tight.” Takaoka’s undisguised glee barely registered as Nagisa slipped down the slide of cold blood into a pool of frozen pain and anguish as he begged mentally for someone to find him. _Sensei…. help……...M’. K, P…ro…fe…ss…or Bi…t…ch…. Ple…………..._

Passing out, Nagisa woke up to his back on fire. Shock, pain and nausea had him closing his eyes as he struggled to regain a steady mental footing so he could think. Moving his arm before he realized he could, Nagisa pressed a few fingers into his side, where he could feel the trickle of blood. _How have I not bled out at this point?_

Feeling returned to his arms, and he could feel the needle where he was sure he was getting blood. Moving his head to look to his left, Nagisa saw the improvised knife sitting next to him, stained with his blood. Grabbing it, Nagisa tucked it up under him and reached up to touch his face. The skin there was still smooth, still undisturbed. _He’s going to come back. What do I do? I need a plan!_

Hearing the door unseal as someone pulled it open, Nagisa carefully retook his old position so as not to arouse suspicion. _Fuck, what do I do? What do I do??!!_

Takaoka, unsurprisingly, walked through the door. “Well, Lil’ Snake, you’re still out of it. Not a bad deal. I guess those paralytics worked better than I expected.” Reaching to take Nagisa by his shoulders, Takaoka flipped the limp young boy. “Time to move on to my masterpiece.”

Grabbing the knife from under him, Nagisa struck on instinct, slamming the three-edged blade into the man’s throat and dragging it down. Blood gushed as Takaoka’s carotid was pierced, splurting blood.

_I can send help back after I get away._ Panic fueled, Nagisa started to move, despite the pain. Takaoka reached to grab Nagisa, but Nagisa placed his hand on the barrel chest of the man and pushed him away despite the blood loss. Crawling off the table and collapsing to the floor, he made his way—unsteadily in a crawl—toward the door as he tugged the IV line behind him when it opened and Smog rushed in as Nagisa heard the death rattle Takaoka let out behind him. Grabbing Nagisa, Smog held him upright and carried him away. “Snake? Answer me.”

Nagisa could only stare, still checked out of the situation beyond the need to flee. “Takaoka…. split him from….” Collapsing to the side, Nagisa nearly fainted as Smog carefully picked him up and carried him from the room out into what appeared to be a regular apartment with the IV bag still attached to his arm, providing the necessary blood to compensate for the bleeding wounds on his back.

“I’ll get you to a medical facility, Snake. This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Smog said, eyes hard. “We do not kill our own.”

Nagisa laughed vacantly. “Assassins don’t assassinate the other assassins. That’s funny.”

He didn’t hear anything else as he was laid down across a backseat, with a chill settling deep into his bones.

Blinking awake the next time was agony and Nagisa vomited as pain engulfed his body. He had no idea where he was, but the smells of chemicals assailed him. Panic took over his body and he started to try to get up, but his body refused to move. His ears were assailed by a rythmatic fast-paced screech.

Footsteps came up to him. “Easy, Snake. Easy, kid. You’re safe. Breathe.” Smog moved to sit next to him, gently putting a hand on Nagisa’s shoulder. “Easy.”

“What happened? Where am I?” Nagisa asked, looking the assassin as the man’s face twisted into a rage.

“He’s dead. You’ve completed your first job. Congratulations.” Smog’s face changed to one of mourning. “I’m sorry it was so hard.”

Nagisa looked up, the chill he felt settling into his muscles. “I…. killed?” _I’m a monster. I’ve killed someone. Someone who didn’t want to die!_

“You did.” Smog confirmed.

“I didn’t… I didn’t mean…” Tears falling, more out of trauma than out of grief or respect for Takaoka. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know you didn’t mean to, Snake. But it’s likely that you saved your own life by doing so.” Smog spoke in a low slow tone to calm Nagisa down. “I’ve never seen that man so unhinged and he’s made enemies with everyone at our company. I think you did the world a service by ridding it of that rabid mongrel, anyway. Takaoka was wanted in several countries for murdering innocents. Take solace in the fact that you’ve probably saved more lives.” Smog gently checked the IV line. “Are the painkillers coming through?”

The question didn’t really sink in, as Nagisa was spiraling before one random thought hit him. “Why are you helping me? Don’t say we don’t kill our own, because if Takaoka was a job, we do kill our own.”

“I want to see you take down your government because it’s bullshit on the highest level that they’re prosecuting you. It sets a dangerous precedent for those of us in the assassination business, anyway. How can we take government contracts if this is what happens to us afterwards? But that’s not important right now.” Smog sat down near the side of Nagisa’s cot, keeping himself carefully in view as he continued to speak.

“Right now, you need to heal. Takaoka did a number on you, because the puncture wounds are nearly impossible to sew shut. As such, you’ll be on your stomach for a long time. And it will affect your ability to fight. While I know you’re well trained in both martial arts and knives, you won’t be able to move as easily now. You’ll need to develop a work around for that.” Carefully lifting the bandages, Smog checked his back. “The company has granted you time off to heal. If you’re OK with it, I have a few designer drugs that may help you heal faster. After you can move again, you’ll be given time to train with me—and someone else, but I don’t know who yet.” Smog ran a hand through Nagisa’s hair. “Sleep now.”

The next three months, Nagisa was stuck on his stomach as he healed. Scar tissue developed slowly, leaving the young assassin with what Smog described as “Little triangles’ all up and down his back. When he finally was able to get up and look for himself, he was shocked by what he saw.

A few scars ran the length of his back along his spine, from his hips up to his shoulders, and the triangles were spread out all over, one even so close that if he wore a shirt without a collar to it that the edge could be seen along the back edge of his collar near his neck.

The cold Nagisa had felt since leaving Japan had begun to solidify, taking hold in his mind and soul as he told himself one thing. _You have been marked, with blood on your hands. You have killed. There’s no way to go back from this. Even if there was, they’ll kill my family if I go back, or my friends. But there’s a way to limit the damage done by being careful when choosing who kill. I will never kill a child or an innocent. Nor will I ever go back to being a civilian. I’m too much of a risk._

_But….!_ A voice protested in his mind. Shoving it in a box, the young adult who’d made his transition to adult in the most horrific way possible locked it away. _No. No ‘buts.’ It doesn’t matter who I was now. There’s no way back. No one is out there that will care about you now. I’m a killer, a monster. A snake._

Stuck on his stomach, he made a promise to himself, the last one that he made to anyone. _I will never go back, because I am a danger to those around me. I am not human anymore._

Quietly, Nagisa Shiota was locked away in the back of the assassin’s mind and he wholly embodied his codename.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. If you like this story, I would highly recommend the story this one is based off of: A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle :  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Four years later, Coral Snake grumbled as he packed his bag for yet another mission—his dossier had been awaiting him in a distant post office box when he’d come home from another job. “Working me like a dog….” _I just got back! Assassination after protection job after assassination after protection. There’s no end to the damn cycle._

Picking up the dossier, he flipped through it. _Crooked politician, campaign finance misappropriation for unspeakable things, has supported rings of abuse, has performed killings to keep people quiet, a few mistresses have ‘vanished’…. Well, at least this person seems to need to be taken out. Will be breaking ground for a hospital in South America._ Pulling out the false passport, Snake nodded. _Young man, just graduated from high school, on his way to Harvard. Physically small, nonthreatening._ Feeling the hackles on the back of his neck go up, Snake glared at the next line _. Vaguely feminine._

Biting down on his tongue, he pushed the thoughts away to focus. _Easy enough. And with no injuries, I don’t have to worry about caring for them down in the rain forest._

Grabbing a box of light brown hair dye from his closet, the assassin shed his shirt and caught his reflection in the glass. _Huh. I look awful. Maybe if I sleep on the plane, I’ll look less like a half-dead scarecrow._

 _S_ norting, the assassin cackled unkindly at the thought. _And maybe I’ll magically gain twenty pounds, actually have the motivation to exercise healthily, and won’t have nightmares anymore. And then I’ll get the winning lottery numbers. Even though I don’t play!_

Feeling some small part of him awaken, Snake pushed his emotions back into the nesting boxes of ice he kept his personality, hopes and dreams from before in. _Not dealing with those. I’m drained enough as it is. Stupid agency never helping with medical and taking so much of the reward money. And sending me jobs I didn’t get to vette, especially one after another._

Dying his hair and locating the correct color contacts, the snake shed his old skin and took on the next. Glancing out over the lake and trees outside of his Canadian safe house, the Snake mentally bid adieu to them for the time being. _After this job, I’m taking a break. They can threaten me all they want; I’ll take out whomever the send after me._

Packing quickly, Snake made sure to throw in clothes appropriate to the job. _I’m a kid, so several dozen band t-shirts and a bunch of shorts work just fine. My fangs will be with my checked luggage —along with anything else that isn’t approved — and that should be all I need. I need to get going, though. The damn asshole is supposed to be there less than day and a half after I arrive._ Carrying the duffle downstairs, Snake called out to his companions. “Ranger. Hunter. Here.”

The two dogs came forward, dropping to their rumps when signaled to do so. The black and white one was much more disciplined, where the blonde dog more followed the cues set by his brother than the commands issued by his master.

“Guard the house. Alexandra will come in to take care of you. Strike.” Snake ordered, reaching to rub his hands over the dogs scalps and accepted the affection they gave him. “If I do not make it back, you will be taken to Smog.”

No joy came from the Snake as he petted the animals, or at least no joy that came from anything but the locked, frozen boxes that smothered it before it could reach Snake’s face. Picking up his duffle, the Snake picked up his motorcycle keys and moved to the enclosed four-car garage, where a med bay and a handful of vehicles sat. _Here we go._

Plopping down on the bike after fitting his helmet over bun he kept, the assassin started it and drove to his local airport. Pulling out forged documents, the man quietly boarded the plane under a fake name and age. As the plane took off, nineteen-year-old Nathan Smalls was on his way to his first vacation trip in Rio de Janeiro as a celebration for getting into Harvard.

Arriving at the swanky hotel his ‘parents’ had put him up in so he could properly enjoy his time, Coral Snake quickly set to work scouting out a sniper’s position while Nathan took a hike around his hotel. _I guess I should be grateful to stay in a place like this. It’s glitzy, but that hides its true purpose. Wonder how many other assassins are here?_ Bumping into a young couple who waved at him as he rounded a corner of the trail, Nathan began to make careful conversation.

“Hello! It’s a lovely day outside, isn’t it?” Nathan offered a twinkling smile that resonated in his dark brown—nearly black—eyes.

“Sure is.” The young woman said, offering a smile. “Are you lost? Or do you need help? You’re awfully young to be wandering around on your own.”

“Oh, I’m just fine. My parents sent me here as a ‘congratulations’ on making it to Harvard. They had to stay home to deal with my little sister’s sickness. My other friends are flying in tomorrow and we’re all gonna party once they get here. I’m so excited to start up this next semester. It took me an extra year or so, but I made it in my second time trying after my gap year.” The young man spun a bit, excited. “I can’t wait to start making a difference when I become a lawyer.”

“That’s an ambitious goal.” The man spoke, “What made you choose Harvard?”

“It’s the best, and I want to prove I can stand among the ranks of the best. Nothing’s going to get in my way…including that branch. I bet I could climb the tree all the way to the top.” Scrambling a bit, Nathan enthusiastically started clamored up to a tree, before going face-first into the dirt.

The couple rushed to him, together. “Are you alright?” the man asked, as the woman helped the kid up.

“Just fine. After you take your millionth header in life you get used to it.” Nathan offered a shaky grin. “I have to admit, I trip over my own two feet all the time. But I’m gonna figure it out and climb all the way to the top.” Wincing the young man reached to rub at the side of his ankle that he’d rolled when he landed. “But I might head back. It’s going to be dinner soon enough anyway.”

“Are you sure you’re OK to walk back?” The young woman asked, eyes gentle.

“No, thank you. I’m fine. Being clumsy inures you to a lot.” Nathan joked, offering a grin.

“Alright. Be careful, OK kiddo?” The man said, only vaguely condescending.

“Will do.” Watching as the two walked away, Nathan let the false grin fall. Once the two had moved out of view, the mask of a happy, well-adjusted teen fell as the assassin roared onto the scene. _That took long enough._ Glancing up the tree, Coral Snake sighed as he rolled his shoulder to stretch them. _I hope my scars won’t tear open if I climb a few trees._

After climbing several trees, Coral Snake had found the perfect area and secured the equipment — a sniper rifle with a great scope, a camouflage cloak that he’d hidden in a big hiking bag — in a discrete position before going back to get a snack and act hurt as he hobbled past the concierge. _I’m tired and hungry. Maybe I can buy something at the convenience store…_

Picking up and paying for a bag of carrots, the assassin had made his way to his room and went to sleep, setting several alarms to wake him up in time. _Maybe I’ll actually get some sleep._

After a few rounds of waking up in a cold sweat from nightmares that ended when the alarms went off, Coral Snake went over his backup plans as he picked up his backup weapons—twin knives referred to as ‘fangs’ by anyone who knew the assassin professionally. _If needed, I will infiltrate their room and bite down._

Taking up his position early enough that most people would’ve assumed the teen had gone around the path and then gone on his planned excursions, Coral Snake perched perfectly balanced on the thick branch he’d found and stared through his scope. _Now we wait._

Heat had him sweating as he waited. An hour later, Snake reared his head when he saw the car bearing the correct license plate pull in front of the hotel. _Bag them and get home._ He steadied himself on the branch as he readied himself to take the shot with one taking its place on the trigger.

When candy-apple red hair appeared in his scope, the part of him that was locked away roared as it fought its icy prison.

 _STOP._ His conscience screamed, and for the first time in years, Coral Snake listened to it.

Unable to do anything as his body froze, the assassin watched as his former classmate he’d pushed to the back of his mind climbed out of the car, and moved around it to help another occupant out. A young woman with bright blonde hair that rang more memories up to the surface as the assassin fought to push them back down into the box that had started to thaw. _It’s…. Karma. And Nakamura._

 _You can’t kill them!_ A voice deep inside him spoke from the frozen lockboxes. Unable to do anything but watch, Coral Snake kept an eye on the two as they seemed to take in the grounds. Then, Karma looked directly through his scope. And grinned a smile that brought back more feelings the Snake hadn’t felt in years.

As the two walked in to the hotel, Coral Snake and the little bit of Nagisa’s soul that had survived until then fought.

 _I can’t kill him!_ One side insisted, while the other argued. _If he’s guilty, he will die._

Sliding down the tree, the young man secured his items in a bag and made his way back to the hotel, as he attempted to figure out what was going on. Struck dumb, the young assassin carefully walked back to the hotel.

Each step cracked the ice around the box in the back of his mind, each crack letting more and more memories stream through it to flash across the assassin’s mind. The small chestnut mascot of his old school. The devil-may-care smile of a best friend, one he’d always wanted to be next to. A bright yellow cartoonish smile of a teacher unlike any other. A year of training and joys, and a crescent moon that had crumbled just as the young man’s life had crumbled after the teacher was gone.

Numb, the man made his way through the lobby. _How?_ Avoiding the press and other gawkers at the front of the lobby, the young man took residence in a seat off the checkout counter and watched as the red-haired man give a speech. _Is it really him? Has he changed so much?_ Staring at the politician as he wove words together, the assassin waited until the man left the group to catch his eye.

Karma responded immediately with a smile, walking over to brush the Snake on his shoulder.

The feeling of someone getting close enough to touch him nearly had the assassin jumping away as if he’d been scalded. Refusing to let the man get the upper hand, the assassin simply didn’t acknowledge it as he stood and walked away to his own room. Putting away his ‘hiking bag’, the assassin flipped through his paper notes to try and find any clues. _Why is it Karma? Why is he here? Has he truly changed so much that he’d have committed these atrocities?_

Glancing through the photos of the ones Karma had supposedly killed, the assassin resolved to find out. _One way to find out that isn’t guesswork._ Closing the dossier, Snake turned to the door. _Let’s ask Mr. Akabane what he’s been up to._


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no patience. Mom didn't pass it down. Enjoy the double upload.
> 
> Anyway, if you're enjoying the story, I highly recommend the work that inspired this one: A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle. Here's the link!
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114#workskin

Walking up the stairs to the fourth floor, Coral Snake slid over to the door to the suite at the end and reached for one of his lock-picks in his left cargo pocket, only to have the door open. Looking up, Snake felt a warm spark in his heart as he looked up into the golden eyes of his former best friend. “You could just knock, y’know.”

And like that, the spark died as Coral Snake reformed. “I have some questions for you, Akabane.” His voice was colder than the north pole.

Karma looked visibly confused at the use of his surname. “Well, Nagisa, I have answers.”

Brushing past the man into a luxurious suite, Nagisa spun on the man. “Don’t call me that.”

“What, your name?” Karma said, squinting as wheels began to turn. “OK, but if you changed your name, can you tell me what it is? We’ve got a pool going, and we have Morgan as the first choice because it was androg…”

Whipping out one of his fangs, Coral Snake backed his target up to the wall with the business end of a knife pointed to the man’s midsection. “Stop talking or you won’t ever get to talk to your friends again. Answer my questions and I’ll leave you. Consider it a gift, from a dead classmate. You only get to survive if I consider you worth keeping alive and if your file is any indication…... You’re going to die, Akabane. I haven’t left someone alive unless they deserve it. Can’t risk my reputation as the Coral Snake for nothing.”

“My file?” Karma smiled down at the assassin. “Don’t tell me you actually believe any of that?”

“I don’t know you. I haven’t in years.” Coral Snake hissed, hearing the door to the connecting suite open up.

“Hey, Karma any…” Nakamura trailed off, her voice rising in joy. “NAGISA!” Running toward him, she reached to hug him.

Only to be met with the twin blade to the one Coral Snake was holding to Karam’s chest pointed at her throat. “This isn’t a reunion. I’m here for answers, and then I’ll be gone.”

Nakamura and Karam flashed a fast glance to each other and Karma began to talk.

“None of what you were told in your file is correct. It was just a fabrication created by Ritsu. She said you only go after a certain type of hit, and that to get you to show we needed to make me look as bad as possible.” Karma explained, looking his friend in the eyes.

Seeing no deception, Coral Snake withdrew his blade from the man’s throat, before lowering the other blade and sheathing both of them. “Understood. I will warn you to never try this again, as it was risky. Why were you trying to contact me?”

“To bring you home of course.” Karma said, reaching out to grasp his friend’s shoulders.

As soon as the touch landed, Coral Snake hissed and backed away quickly. “Don’t touch me.”

Karma’s eyes went sad, and Nakamura held up her hands instead. “Would you mind listening to us?”

For some reason, a magnetism held Coral Snake in sway as he looked over the red-head. _Go to them._

Stiffly following the young woman to the small table, Coral Snake took a chair across the table, able to see the doors in case someone came looking for him. “Talk.”

“Wow, you have no manners.” Karma’s devil-may-care grin came back. “We’ve finally gotten all of our evidence in order, despite governmental interference. You can come home, and testify. Once you do, you don’t have to do this anymore.”

“I have no need to stop.” Coral Snake said as a part deep inside him wept with joy at the thought of an end to this job.

“Really?” Nakamura said, reaching out to take a hand that was balled into a fist on the table. “Because you don’t seem…human anymore.”

“I haven’t been human since about twenty hours after I left…. That country.” Coral Snake informed them, standing and pulling away from the first genuine gentle touch he’d been gifted since he’d left his home country. “If that’s all, we have no further business.”

Karma looked at Nakamura. “Welp…”

Nakamura nodded. “Alright. We’ll leave you be, but as a warning: your company wasn’t the only one to receive our information. There was one other taker. If you go, you’ll be damning your friends to death. Can you live with that?”

_Shit, I can’t let them die._ Shaking off the thought, Coral Snake turned on her. “How dumb are you two? If you set up your own hit, you deserve it.”

Nakamura’s baby blues were wide, tears falling as she looked over the man in front of her. “What’s happened to you, Nagisa?”

“That. Is. No. Longer. My. Name.” Coral Snake hissed, so angry and upset at the fact that she and Karma had easily been able to get under his skin with the use of his old name that he failed to notice the much larger man picking him up for a crucial second.

Spinning, Nagisa launched into defensive moves that proved ineffective. Karma — with his larger frame, fully developed musculature, lack of any sustained injuries, and martial arts training — held Nagisa against him as the assassin struggled. Walking to the bed, Karma laid them both down and used his weight to hold down the assassin. “Get the cuffs, Nakamura.”  
“Gotcha.” Nakamura chirped happily, rooting through the luggage to pull out a heavy-duty hand-cuffs. Carefully securing the assassin’s hands to the metal headboard, Karma straddled the man as he worked to make it so he wouldn’t be able to move.

“Get off of me!” Coral Snake snapped, writhing angrily.

“Aww… you’re still a little mouse.” Karma’s eyes went fond, before he moved his hands to slide up the assassin’s chest.

“WHAT THE HELL?” Coral Snake screamed, thrashing even harder under Karma’s weight.

“Relax. I’m just checking you for weapons and lockpicks. I know you have one, that’s how you planned on getting into the room.” Karma said, shocking Coral Snake into a silence.

The touch was searing, heat pumping though the icy shell that was the assassin’s skin. Flushing hard, Coral Snake did his best to control his instinct to lean into the touch, though he didn’t succeed. Pressing into the heat, the flame, the Snake panted as he tried to not melt.

Karma’s eyes devoured him, even as concern rose. “Is this the most you’ve been touched since you left Japan?”

“None of your business.” The Snake said, trying to dislodge the bigger opponent.

“You know, if you wanted to be touched all you had to do was ask.” Karma said, grinning the devil’s grin he’d mastered in middle school and returning to his careful search of the assassins body.

This time, the Snake didn’t say anything but his spine went lax as he melted a bit at the idea of being embraced by his old friend.

“Hmmm…. He seems to like the suggestion.” Nakamura teased as she observed Nagisa over Karmas shoulder before turning to Karma. “Find any lockpicks?”  
“Nope, check those cargo pants pockets. I’ll keep his focus on me.” Karma said, leaning over the man as he tried to work out the last comment that had been directed toward him. “You with me, Nagisa?”

“That’s not my name!” Coral Snake insisted, flushing as he realized the semi-suggestive positions the two were in. “Get off of me.”  
“Oh, Nagisa. You were always easy to read. You still flush gorgeously.” Karma said, running a hand over the man’s cheek. “Do you know how much trouble it’s been to track you down? We thought you were dead.”

“Nagisa Shiota is dead.” Coral Snake hissed, glaring up. “I shed that skin when I started.”

Karma shook his head. “If he was truly dead, you would have taken that sniper shot. If he was gone, you would have knifed me when I opened the door to you. And I can prove it to you.”

The irate Snake hissed under him. “No, you can’t. Get the fuck off me.”

“I can, I just want your permission to try. After all, if you’re dead as you say you are, it can’t hurt to try. You’ll just fight back and prove me wrong, right?” Karma’s evil grin had the assassin glaring up.

“Shiota has been dead for years. Try your best, you won’t get him back.” The Snake hissed, glaring up.

“Sweet.” Karma, looking way too self-satisfied, leaned over and pressed his lips to the man beneath him in a gentle kiss that had the assassin stiffening a bit before the pleasure hit.

Heat flew up and down the cuffed man’s body, causing his struggles to stop for a moment. Pulling back, Karma looked down. “Is this OK?” Moaning, the blue-haired man nodded before he realized he had. _What the absolute hell? I’ve NEVER felt like this. Even when others have tried this approach, I’ve been able to keep it under control! Why…?_

The thought was cut off as Karma leaned back down and pressed the two together. Grinding a bit, Karma drew a small aborted cry from Nagisa. “Ah-!” _Where did he learn that?_

Moaning again, the assassin struggled with desire before ultimately giving in. Karma deepened the kiss as he was granted permission to enter. Vaguely, Snake was aware of someone going through his pockets but it didn’t matter. _More._

Tongue sweeping in, Karma and the assassin dueled in a battle of kisses. Shifting, Karma moved so that they were pressed together from hips to upper chest, hands gently running along arms still cuffed to the headboard. The heat from above began to fight the bone-deep chill that had been in place for far too long.

“I got his tools, and I’m going to leave you two to whatever the hell this kinky crap is.” Nakamura’s voice broke the trance and Coral Snake began to struggle again despite the ice surrounding his lockbox starting to melt faster with each second.

“Gotcha.” Karma sat up, pinning the assassin down using his hips. “Thanks. You’re the best.”

Nakamura laughed as she kept her back to the two. “You know it. But keep in mind we may in danger so don’t get too distracted and take your pants off.”

Flipping her off, Karma turned back to the man underneath him. “If Nagisa was truthfully dead, you would have bitten my lip off to get rid of me. You wouldn’t have kissed me back. And you wouldn’t be as aroused as you are now.” Grinding down a bit more to get another strangled moan out of the man below him, Karma watched the color fill the man’s cheeks. “You’re not gone, Nagisa. No matter what you pretend.”

“You don’t know me.” Coral Snake hissed, but it became harder and harder when he was getting more gentle touches now than the ones he’d allowed himself for the past four years.

Karma leaned down, forced the man to meet his eyes. Gold latched on to blue. “I know the real you, not the man you’ve been forced to become to survive.”

“What I’ve done to survive is what has shaped me. Nothing else matters. Nothing from before.” Coral Snake hissed but ceased his struggles.

“You’re wrong, Nagisa. You matter. You always have.” Karma said, pressing their foreheads together.

The assassin once again tried to get the man off of him using a fast head-butt but wasn’t able to do it fast enough to knock the other man off of him. “No. I need to leave. This job was a scam and I need to get back to my company.”

“You’re not going back, Nagisa. You don’t have to do this anymore.” Karma said, gently tracing over the man’s cheekbones with his thumbs.

_They’ll kill people if I come back._ The thought refroze the shell that had begun to melt in an instant. “There’s no way back from what I’ve done—what I’ve become—Akabane. You want your nice, simple friend back? He died in a med bay less than twenty hours after he left Japan.” Coral Snake said, eyes dulling as the memories poured over him. “He’s gone.”

“No, he isn’t. I see the bits of you you’re trying to hide. I see the softness when I first opened the door, the joy you felt in seeing me again. You enforce such a pressure on yourself that you don’t need to.” Karma said, cupping his cheek.

Despite himself, the handcuffed man leaned into the touch before a comment the company head had made. _We enforce things…differently._ “I need to leave, I…”

Refusing to listen anymore, the red-head pressed their lips together, letting the anger he felt at the refusal of the man below to acknowledge who he was pour into the kiss. All the emotion that Karma gave him, the assassin gave back in spades. Loss, confusion, joy, love, lust and anger filled the kiss and fueled it.

Pulling back slightly, Karma stared down. “What have you done that is so unforgiveable?”

“Did you miss the memo where I kill people?” Coral Snake asked, one eyebrow rising to take on a supercilious expression. “I’ve killed people—there’s blood on my hands. I can’t go back from that, Karma.”

Hope sprung up into Karma’s eyes at the use of his first name. “Yes, you can! You know of two amazing people who did it.”

“Who?” Nagisa said, closing his eyes as he fought the pain of emotions and memories returning to flood him.

“Koro-sensei and Professor Bitch. You’re about Professor Bitch’s age when she joined our classroom now, Nagisa. Was she unforgiveable?” Karma asked, watching the man beneath him shifting as if he were in pain.

“That’s different. They weren’t a part of my company.” The blue-haired assassin regained control over his desires and pushed them away. “I have no place in the world anymore besides this. It is easier to accept it and give in. This is my life.”

“You can learn to live again, Nagisa. Don’t give me that bullshit about it all being over. You’re still alive. You can change. Is this really what you want?” Karma asked.

_No, I don’t. But I don’t know how to live with myself any more._ His conscience flashed across his face in a micro-expression, but it was one Karma picked up on.

“That’s what I thought.” Karma said, running his hand through the man’s hair, reaching up to release it from the bun. “You don’t have to be this way, Nagisa. We will help you, and you’re not giving yourself or us enough credit. Please, stay.”

“Alright.” Nagisa said, relaxing under Karma. “I can try.”

Karma scowled down, but the playful edge undercut the sadistic one. “Good thing, ‘cause I wasn’t going to let you go until you agreed.”

Leaning back down, the kisses were much sweeter as the two met again.

When they broke for air again, Nagisa took a deep breath. “Now will you undo the cuffs?”

“Ha. No. Nice try.” Karma said, looking down. “You may say you’ll stay, but I don’t trust you.”

Leaning down, he began to gently nibble and suck along the base of Nagisa’s collarbone where it met his neck. Gasping, Nagisa arched up into the touch, desperate as the cuffs restricted his movement. After a few more moments of a make-out session for the ages, Karma turned to face to a knock on the door to the connecting suite, breathing heavy as he leaned down to desperately kiss along Nagisa’s neck once more as Nagisa cried out a bit from the electric current shooting though every part of his body.

Standing, Karma took a few deep breaths and calmed down before he looked down at the man still handcuffed to the bed. "I need to go, Nagisa. If you stay here, I promise we can discuss this" Karma reached up to cup his cheek, "You and me, that is, later. Promise me you won't run, Handsome. I have so much to tell you."

Nagisa offered the first genuine smile he'd had in years and nodded.

“Alright, you can come in.” Karma called, and Nakamura poked her head through to grin at the two.

“Hey, I got in contact with everyone, including Mr. K. He said he’s glad we were able to get in contact and that everyone will be waiting for us when we get back home.” Nakamura’s words sent a frozen chill back into the cuffed assassin.

_Mr. K…. What’s he going to think of me? I killed Takaoka. He knew the man, was even friends with at one point._ Nagisa felt himself starting to slip back as the memories of the faces he’d killed made a procession across his mind’s eye. Mad dogs, murderers, traffickers, pedophiles all, but they were still human enough. _You can’t go back; you’ll just stain everyone. Don’t feel. It’s easy._

Blinking, Coral Snake came back as he waited for the two to leave with promises that they’d be back soon. Nodding along and smiling to make sure that neither of them suspected anything, Coral Snake waited until they had left for a good minute and a half before he dislocated his finger and unlocked the cuffs, carefully sliding them off his wrists and standing. _Where in the hell did they put my stuff?_

Looking around the room, he was digging his equipment out from the hotel safe when he heard the click of the door. Scurrying to a hidden defensible position, Coral Snake waited for one or both of them to re-enter as he planned his escape route.

Instead, a well-dressed dangerous man slid in, carefully checking the room from the entryway. “Well, damn.” The man muttered, closing the door behind him. “I’ll have to catch them downstairs. Ah, well. Another day, another dollar.”

With those words, the frozen shell snapped fully back into place as the Coral Snake slipped from the room to follow the man down to the dining hall. _They may not be my friends anymore, but hell if I’m letting another company take the kill._

Keeping his distance, Coral Snake kept an eye on the man, watching him as he walked up to the table where Karma and Nakamura sat. When the second assassin started to reach for a hidden gun, that was when he sprang into action, burying one of his fangs deep into the man’s back with his uninjured hand. Collapsing forward onto the table where the two classmates sat—revealing his Glock as he fell—the man sagged for a moment before he spun.

Unsurprisingly, that was when everything went to shit. Screams broke through the air as the injured assassin spun and fired off a shot as Coral Snake had started to leave the room to avoid the obvious confrontation between himself and cops. Sliding away, he made it to his room before the pain lancing through his shoulder warned him that he’d been shot. _Fuck me!_ His arm felt numb as he unlocked the hotel safe and began to gather everything he’d brought.

_Shit._ Packing up his bag, Coral Snake quickly pulled on a black hoodie and ducked out of a side entrance as he dialed his agency.

“Hades Banking, how may I direct your call?” The receptionist asked.

“Yes, I would like to make an investment in infrastructure in Florida.” Coral Snake answered, picking the keys out from his bag as he rushed to the parking lot. Climbing into the jeep his company had left there for him, Coral Snake climbed in and quickly backed out of his spot even as he struggled to hold the steering wheel with his injuries. Doing a fast circle around the lot, he caught sight of Karma and Nakamura looking for him. Meeting Karma’s gaze, Coral Snake let his frozen eyes relay all that he needed it to.

_This is me, don’t look again. Stay safe, Akabane, Nakamura. I wish you the best. Pray we don’t meet again._

Pulling away, his phone call was patched through with a quiet click. “Coral Snake, what is your status?”

“Position compromised; the job was a fake. If you look closely, you should be able to track the file back to an advanced AI. It was all a sting to find me. I’m bugging out, but to make sure no one else can give me away, do not take any hits involving the names of anyone from my Kunugigaoka class 3-E.” Coral Snake relayed. “Injuries will slow me down, don’t expect me back for a few days.”

“Are the injuries serious?” The receptionist asked, voice calm.

“Unsure, haven’t been able to check. Assume severe unless I call again.” Coral Snake said, whipping out onto the main road.

“Understood and thank you for your investment.” His contact said. “I will pass on your dollar amount.”

Pain had begun to incapacitate the assassin, and Coral Snake quickly pulled off at a roadside hotel. Paying for a room, the assassin stumbled into the room and pulled out his med kit that he’d stashed in his rental in case he needed to quickly evacuate. Carefully pulling off his hoodie and shirt, the assassin took stock of the wound. The shot had blown through his right shoulder, exit wound toward the front.

“Shit, it’s serious. Need to stop the bleeding.” Picking up his personalized med kit, Coral Snake quickly set about stopping the bleeding. Dabbing a few cotton swabs into a rubbing alcohol, he carefully patted the wound down before taping gauze down on the entry wound. The exit wound was big enough that he would need to get medical attention as soon as possible. _I can’t move until the situation dies down._ Reaching for needle and thread, Coral Snake did his best to sew up the wound with his non-dominant hand with two fingers taped together.

After he got the gauze down, he secured it with bandages, doing his best to wrap the bandages as a lightheadedness and numbness took over the rest of his body. Walking out of the bathroom and collapsing face-first onto his bed, he hissed as the last of the adrenaline wore off. Closing his eyes, he took the second-best remedy for a wound outside of medical help—rest.

Waking up in a classroom — one he knew was around the globe from the last place he’d remembered being — Coral Snake looked up to the front of a room. “Who are you?”  
“You’ve lost your way.” The dark-haired man said, eyes soft and sad. “That job isn’t what you want. You know that.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” Coral Snake hissed, sliding out of the desk and rushing the man. Grabbing the man by his collar, he pinned him to the classroom chalkboard. “Who are you?”

“That’s not important right now. Sleep, Nagisa. You need the rest.” The man said, gently placing a hand on the top of the assassin’s head. “Sleep.”

Nothing else was said as the classroom faded and he sank into the oblivion.

Feeling hand shake him, Coral Snake blinked his eyes half-open, to get the impression of bright red and gold intermingled before he closed them again. Panic infused words like “infected’ and ‘serious injury’ passed by his mind without registering. The movement of his body to a stretcher was unexpected but there was no strength in his body left to fight it. The pain had drained him, leaving him at the mercy of whomever. A prick on his arm and the feeling of something cold flowing into his veins took away even the minuscule amount of consciousness that he’d regained.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone.  
> If you're enjoying this story, I'd highly recommend the work that inspired this one: A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle 
> 
> Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

The next thing Coral Snake knew he was waking up on his back in a small room with mostly blank beige walls. His shoulder was bandaged tightly, enough to keep from any accidental re-opening of the stitches he could feel underneath. He lay on a queen bed that was shoved in a corner of the room; a desk next to it on his right. There were two doors, one to his right and the other at his feet. The one to his right was cracked open to reveal a bathroom. The one at his feet was closed, but there was a dresser next to the door and a TV hung on the wall in front of the bed. An IV pole was next to him, running what he assumed to be antibiotic and pain killers through a line to him. Slowly lifting his hand where the IVs fed into veins, he stared at it. _I never gave my escape position. How did the company find me?_

Hearing the creak of a door on its hinges, he dropped his hand back to the bed and rolled his head the tiny amount to see a person walk through the closed door.

He didn’t recognize the young woman with long black hair in a ponytail and gentle caramel eyes. “Who are…?” He asked, not remembering that he’d been trying to stay quiet.

“Hey, Nagisa. It’s been a long time.” Reaching down with gentle hands, she tugged the cover off his shoulder to check his wound. “Your injury is looking good. You’re lucky that Karma and Nakamura found you when they did. Your wound was pretty severely infected. It took a lot of heavy-duty antibiotics to get you back to steady. Never mind the fact that your system is so depleted. You’ll be here for a little while.”

“How long have I been… asleep?” Rolling his head a little to look up at her, Nagisa struggled to keep his eyes open.

“About two days.” Tugging the shirt back down and rolling him back to rest comfortably, the woman pressed her knuckles to his cheek. “I’m Kanzaki, by the way. I’ve missed you. Welcome back.”

“Not staying.” He insisted, eyes drifting shut.

There were moments of consciousness for the young assassin as he laid on an unfamiliar soft bed. Voices and sounds moved and flowed around him, gentle hands carefully avoiding painful spots on his body as they worked. Sometimes, the assassin would see faces—but they weren’t always friendly. His victims tormented him, causing him to scream in silence even as friends soothed him. For the most part, he remembered nothing once the darkness re-consumed him.

The next time he was aware, a young mother with bright blonde hair and blue eyes held her child to her chest as she watched over him. “Hey, you back for another visit?”

“Wh’re you?” He asked, unsure. _She seems…vaguely dangerous, but it’s tempered. Who is this??_

“I’m a little hurt you don’t remember me, sweetie. I thought everyone remembered their first kiss.” Leaning over she smiled down at him. “It’s Irina.”

Sleep was slow to leave him as he ran the name through his memories. Nothing caught especially until the woman sighed.

“I’m never going to get over the idiotic nickname you brats gave me.” Reaching up to cup her child’s head, she looked over to him and said “Professor Bitch.”

Blinking awake wide, Coral Snake struggled to sit up as his shoulder radiated pain. “I’m in Japan, aren’t I?”

“Nope. You’re on the moon.” At Nagisa’s growl, Professor Bitch raised a hand in a careful surrender. “Yes, you’re in Japan, Nagisa. We’re in Karma’s house, in the basement suite. Where else did you think you were?” Reaching out, she tried to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” He hissed, recoiling away to the edge of the bed against the wall. “I need to leave.”

“Alright. Can you explain why, though?” She carefully rearranged her sleeping child on her lap. “You’re home.”  
“No. No I’m not. I need to leave, need to get out of here. I promised myself I wouldn’t come back, that I wouldn’t stain anyone else.” Pressing his back to the wall and accidentally brushing the entry wound, he pulled in desperate breath after desperate breath. “I can’t stay.”

“Nagisa. Breathe.” Professor Bitch said, but maintained the space between them. Once his breathing was less harsh, she spoke again. “What stain?”

“You know what I am! You know what that entails. I am stained. The blood on my hands should be obvious to someone who’s been in the business. I won’t stain anyone else, not the other and not you. Get away from me.” He ordered, only to be shocked when the Professor’s gaze went sad instead of falling into a more conventional expression of disgust or anger.

“You are just like me when I was your age. Nagisa, you did what you had to. There’s no shame in that.” She said, quietly running her hand up and down her babies’ back as a comfort. “You can change.”

“No. I froze it, froze all of it and pushed it away. I don’t belong in regular society anymore. I want to leave.” Starting to try and move around her, the injured young man was shocked to see her move toward him instead of away. Reaching out, she gently brushed his shoulder where a scar was visible at the edge of the bandage. This had the man panicking even more. “Get away.”

“No, Nagisa. Stop. You don’t need to be pulling stitches.” When the man continued to fight, the woman made her way to the door. “Hey, Kanzaki. I need help. He’s panicking.”

Kanzaki quietly entered the room, scrubs creased a bit. “Easy, Nagisa. I don’t want you to start bleeding again.” Reaching for her pocket, she withdrew a syringe which had Nagisa shrinking away from her.

“Like hell. What the hell is going on?” He hissed, angry. “Why am I in Japan?”

“We smuggled you out of there. You don’t belong to them anymore, Nagisa.” Professor Bitch words broke him.

“What? Yes, I do! I am an assassin!” He said, sinking back in disbelief. Kanzaki moved to the door, glancing to Professor Bitch who nodded for her to leave.

“No, Nagisa, you’re not. Not anymore. You have a chance to have a normal life.” The blonde woman’s harsh words had the younger man slumping down on the edge of his bed.

“I don’t know how anymore.” He whispered. “I’m not human, haven’t been since my first.”  
“What, do you think you’re a snake, kiddo?” Professor Bitch reached out, with a snort. “You’re not.”

“How can I not be? I’ve been so cold since I left Japan. There’s nothing left but ice.” Shivering as he struggled with the emotional high, Nagisa grasped his arms around his stomach.

Professor Bitch shook her head, carefully soothing the infant as it fussed in her lap. “I think... you're coming to terms with something I dealt with when I became a part of class 3-E." She said, leaning back on her palms. "How could I—a person with blood on my hands—ever forget the blood? Ever live a normal life? Why would I even deserve it after what I’d done?"

Nagisa looked away, words hitting too close to home as Professor Bitch continued.

"And I believed in that. Still do, in some minor way. I'm always amazed that Karasuma trust me, loves me enough to have had our daughter with me. He’s just as wonderful as she is." Looking down at the sleeping infant on her shoulder, Professor Bitch cuddled her daughter with a soft smile.

Nagisa looked up, surprise too deep to contain. "I.... I didn't know you had a daughter.”

Bitch-sensei smiles, happy to see the man interested in something. "Augri’s still new to the world. She’s only a few months old right now.” Shifting her baby so the child was facing Nagisa, Professor Bitch grinned. “She's driving both me and her daddy up the wall. She demands attention all the time."

Nagisa nodded, but a question rose in his mind. “Augri? As in after Kanayo’s sister? And how are you not worried that your mistakes will haunt her?” _They’ll kill someone. I don’t even know who!_

"I am worried. It’s a parent’s job. But I won’t let that control me. Not anymore." Bitch-Sensei said taking as assessing look at the young man. "Just like how I worried about you for all these years. I want you to know that you deserve a life outside of what you were forced to do to survive."

“Look, there’s a reason I’m protesting…” Nagisa said, only to be cut off.

"I know. You feel you don't deserve this chance," Bitch-Sensei said, not letting him continue. "The others deserve to know you'll at least try. For their sake, if you can’t handle it being for yours. Because they love you. You don't have to live for yourself, not yet. It took me a year of working with you brats before my heart developed again. So, give it a chance."

Those words hurt, hitting Nagisa in a place he'd thought he'd lost along his journey. But he needed her to hear him. “That’s not important! I...

“Yes, it is, Nagisa.” Professor Bitch insisted. "But I'll leave you be for now. You need your rest. Don't let me catch you trying to get out of bed again, OK? There's a phone by the bed for you. Just text me or Kanzaki if you need us."

Standing, Bitch-Sensei made her way out of the room as her daughter began to cry. Rubbing a hand over her daughter’s back, she turned back to Nagisa. "Oh, one other thing. Not that we don’t trust you, but we don’t trust you right now. The house is locked down by Ritsu. If you need to talk to her, there’s a phone in the top right desk drawer. We don’t want to lose you, Nagisa. You mean a lot to all of us.”

“Wait! It doesn’t matter that I’m gone. It doesn’t matter that I’m stained. My company will track me down and kill me if they think that I’ve defected. And others!” Nagisa asked, eyes boring into his professor.

“That’s not something you need to worry about, Nagisa. You’re safe here. We’ll protect you.” Professor Bitch closed the door after she’d answered.

“That didn’t answer my question!” Nagisa hissed, before feeling his wound draining energy from him and tugging him back to exhaustion. Moving so he was lying down again because he didn’t want to accidentally injure himself again, Nagisa fought every second to not sleep but lost.

The next time he awoke—a few hours later that same day according to the alarm clock on the desk he hadn’t deemed worthy of noting earlier—he looked up to find a familiar red-head sitting next to him.

“You complete moron. Why did you run when you were hurt?” Karma snapped with a deep fear seated in his eyes, reaching to grab his shirt and check on the wound.

“Stop!” Nagisa said, reaching for Karma’s hand. “Wait.”

“What?” Karma asked, pausing.

“You need to let me go.” Nagisa said, grasping at Karma’s wrist to try and get the message through. “Or at least tell me how long I’ve been here and why I’m still here?”

“So you can try to live a normal life again.” Karma said, not answering the first question. “Why are you trying to go back?”

"It's too dangerous for me to be here." Hearing his own words, Nagisa started to reach for his side, to check his wounds. _It looks like I need a few more days to heal to where I’ll be able to move freely. God, I hope I have the time._ "My old company will come for me. I won't let all of you risk your lives and reputations on a fool’s errand."

"You don't get to decide if we risk our lives. We do. You don't get to sacrifice yourself, Nagisa. Our careers as assassins was supposed to stop once we gave Koro-sensei what he wanted." Karma replied, calm despite the tension the blue-haired man gave off.

"I'm telling you, I'm a lost cause!” The fear, loss, and fear of further loss turned to rage as Nagisa kept talking. “The blood on my hands is something that can't be forgiven. It’s a stain, one I don’t want to accidentally spread.” Looking down at his hands, Nagisa could nearly see the blood dripping off his hands as he began to shiver as he imagined it on those he’d seen so far. _What happens to their careers if they’re found to be in association with an assassin? They’d lose everything._ "Besides, I wouldn't know how to be normal anymore."

Feeling two hands push him down onto the bed, Nagisa found himself pinned under Karma's weight, heat and sharp glare. “You can learn. I know you can learn. Unless you truthfully let Koro-sensei’s lessons leave you once you left the classroom. We can ALWAYS find a way through it. Charm, force, smarts, there's a way. And we're here for you, Nagisa. Don't shut us out. I believe in you."

“You’re focusing on the wrong damned thing here! I need to know how long I’ve been here.” He started to struggle only to have his shoulder ache. “Ah!”

“Easy, easy.” Karma said, taking a deep breath. “We’ll handle it. We’ll find a way.”

Feeling something uncomfortable push through his chest, Nagisa hissed as pain flooded him. "I can't." Tears started to fall as his injuries twinged, and his insides rioted. "I can't." It was a broken whisper. _I want to. I can’t!_

Closing his eyes, Nagisa put himself back into the emotional freeze he'd become comfortable with over the last three or so years. _Don't let the ice melt. Don’t feel. It's weakness, ones you can't afford. Feel, and..._

“Answer me one question: Do you want to go back?” Karma asked, voice soft.

"I have to.” Nagisa whispered, tears falling despite his best efforts. _Damn it, stop being weak._

"Oh, Nagisa. You don’t have to do this anymore. I promise, it’ll be OK.” Karma's hand smoothed over Nagisa's cheek, brushing down to flick away moisture. "Reach out, and I'll be there. But for now, I'll stay with you until you're asleep and then I'll give you some space. You don’t have to worry about us. It’s OK." Climbing off the bed, the red-head retook his seat as Nagisa turned away as light receded and agony drug him down into the abyss.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. If you're enjoying this story, I would recommend giving the inspiration for this piece a read: A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

While he became more and more steady on his feet as he healed in the small room over the next two weeks, Nagisa still kept quiet and rarely said anything as various inhabitants from class 3-E dropped by to say hi. He knew he’d have to go back. _Soon._ He mostly kept his back to the wall and barely responded. He ate little and said less, despite the prods from Kanzaki and Karma.

“You need to eat more; you’re severely underweight, Nagisa. Men of your height should weigh at the very least 100 pounds. You’re rocking around 85.” Kanzaki pleaded as she checked him out one time. Saying nothing, Nagisa simply let himself fall back to sleep.

Karma was much more direct about the issue. “You’re a fucking scarecrow and need more weight. You need to eat the entire portion when we bring it to you.” Again, Nagisa said nothing, choosing to not interact as not to remember too much.

While he didn’t open up to the others much, their presence helped pull memories he’d buried back in the recesses of his mind. Memories he didn’t want has his chest constricting as he fought. _No, I can’t remember. It’ll only be worse when I leave!_

His chest throbbed with each denial. _It hurts._ _It hurts._ _It hurts!_

The only one who could really get a response out of him was Professor Bitch, who would keep him company as she worked on her psychology homework. However, as time crept on Nagisa struggled with the lack of information he was given, unable to get the most basic answers regarding him and his situation.

“I’m working toward becoming a therapist.” She’d told him, absently trying to get him to interact. “I want to be closer to home for Augri, and I think my ability to communicate will help.”

Nagisa had nodded, still carefully avoiding being touched as he sat on the edge of the bed. “Makes sense, from what I remember of you.”

Seeing the grin flashed his way, Nagisa felt a warmth in the pit of his stomach he hadn’t for a long time. _I missed this, talking to someone I know._

Her next question startled him. “Do you have any idea might want to do, or would want to do, if you had the choice?”

It was a question he hadn’t thought about for years. “I…..”

“I mean, you’ll need to think about it at some point, although I guess you can wait until you’ve healed.” Professor Bitch carefully slid her book out of her lap. Leaning back onto her hands, she carefully maintained the boundary that Nagisa had put in place.

Slowly, Nagisa took a leap of faith and leaned into her side. “I don’t know what I’d do. I feel like assassination has taken over my entire life.”

“Yeah, it pretty much did.” Professor Bitch’s candor had Nagisa laughing a bit before the two continued to talk about jobs and careers.

After crossing that first bridge, he’d opened up to her slowly. _She’d understand most of what I went through—maybe I can get her to listen to me…._

“You’ll find your way,” Professor Bitch would say every time he asked her anything. “You will.”

After a few weeks of feeling safe enough in her presence to let her near him, Nagisa finally broke down after she learned the truth about his first kill.

“Nagisa?” She said, as she walked in when he’d been exchanging a t-shirt for a thicker sweater. “I know it’s not my place to ask, but what happened to your back?”

“My…my first kill. He did that.” Nagisa said, reaching up to touch at the scar that was visible even with a shirt.

“Oh, Nagisa. Can I hug you, please?” Professor Bitch asked, putting down her book.

Nodding, Nagisa allowed her close. When her arms wrapped around him, he began to cry. “Don’t hate me if I tell you who it was, and don’t tell anyone. Especially not Mr. K. Please.”

“Of course not, Nagisa. Of course not.” Holding him close, she ran her hand over his scalp. “I promise. I won’t tell him.”

“It… it was Takaoka.” Nagisa whispered, shuddering at speaking the man’s name. “He wanted revenge.”

A gasp filled the room as Professor Bitch pulled him closer in a protective hug while she glared as if she wished the man was in front of her so she could eviscerate him. “That bastard was the one who did this to you?”

“Yes.” Nagisa said, shuddering. “He was an employee at the company I signed with. I didn’t know it when I agreed to join, but he was meant to train me.”

Explaining, Nagisa went through each moment of that night, relaying the horror with a monotone he’d developed to make it so he could face the horror.

By the end, Professor Bitch was holding him tight and weeping. “Oh, Nagisa. I’m sorry. I’d have killed the bastard myself if I could’ve.”

Snorting as he brushed away a few of his own tears, Nagisa let out a half-choked laugh. “You’re nicer than you were before.”

Laughing a bit though the tears, Professor Bitch mock-shoved him. “Hey, I was always plenty nice.”

Sniffling a bit, Nagisa shivered against the chill that flew through his body. “I’m still a monster, though.”  
“Less of one than a few others I’ve known.” Professor Bitch said, using her shoulder to nudge him. “But I think you’ve made a big enough breakthrough for the day. Unless you want to keep going?”

Shaking his head, Nagisa felt the penultimate ice shell crack but he felt he might finally get answers. “I need to know, Professor Bitch. How long have I been here? My company won’t only put a hit out on me, but on anyone who they think were the ones I defected to.”

Professor Bitch shook her head. “You’re still healing, Nagisa. I don’t want you to hurt yourself by going off half-cocked out of some idea that we can’t defend ourselves.”

After that, she refused to say anything and Nagisa felt frustration growing inside him. After that breakthrough, Nagisa spoke openly to Professor Bitch about his past. But the worries about his company persisted throughout his time. _What happens if someone dies because of me?_

"I... I hate what I've become." Nagisa said the next time Professor Bitch sat with him to study and looked down at his hands. He still felt as if they were blood-covered.

"I did, too. At first. And besides, you had to." Bitch-sensei says, sliding to sit next to him. "It's what you had to do. Especially with Takaoka."

Nagisa shuddered. "I..." The memories of Takaoka touching his back while he'd fought the drug made his skin crawl. "I still shouldn't have killed him."

"It was self-defense, Nagisa. You were defending yourself. If you hadn't fought him off, it would have probably been your death and not his." Bitch-sensei said, the calm to his anger as she carefully checked on her daughter.

"I don't know that. And if I hadn't, I might have been able to stay human." Nagisa said, regret coursing through him. _Blood stained, cold-blooded reptile._

"Nagisa, you're still human." Bitch-sensei said, shifting her daughter to more comfortably rest in her lap. "No matter what, you're human."

"No, I'm a monster. I've been a monster since that first kill. There's a reason I left my old name behind. I've been a reptile since I took on my moniker." Nagisa insisted, closing the book on his lap. Putting it aside, Nagisa was surprised to find Augri placed in his lap.

The baby blinked up a him, gurgling up happily at him and reaching for him.

"My baby girl hates reptiles. But she loves you. Does this help to convince you?" Bitch-sensei said, smiling at the joy clearly displayed on her daughter’s face.

Uncomfortable, Nagisa reached down to shift the child off of his lap. "I'm not comfortable holding her, Professor."

"You'll have to get used to it, because I need to go to the bathroom for a moment. Please just watch her for a moment, OK?" Bitch-sensei said, dashing away quickly and leaving the two staring at each other.

Leaning into Nagisa's awkward hold, Augri nuzzled closer and closed her eyes. The loving heat of the child was near searing. "Little one, I don't know that you want to be close to me. I'm dangerous."

Blinking a slow blink, the baby pressed closer as if to say _'no, you're not. Not to me, anyway.'_

"But what if you knew what I was?" Nagisa asked, the warmth of the little body on his shoulder comforting and grounding.

Closing her eyes, Augri slowly slipped to sleep. _'It's Ok. I trust you. I don't care what you might have been, I care what you are now. And what you are now is someone my mom trusts. So I trust.'_

As Augri slowly slid to sleep, Nagisa felt a painful lurch in his chest, pain shooting down his body as he carefully stiffened.

_I want to be worthy of her trust and love. She's so small, and innocent. I wish I’d been like her_ Realizing that, he felt his pulse kick up for the first time in years. Remembering a bright grin in a yellow face, Nagisa felt a wave crash over him. _I was like her. I was, and I'm still deserving because Koro-sensei chose me and the others. But what do I do with the threat looming over all of us?_

Tears spilled down his cheeks, as Nagisa carefully lifted himself and Augri up to his bed, lying down wrapped around to protect the child from his tears as they fell down onto his pillow.

Quietly, Nagisa wept for himself, for what he'd lost. The trust of this small, innocent child had brought back his own heart unwillingly, and Nagisa finally mourned for the child he'd been, as well as all the experiences he'd missed because of the injustice of the system.

Slowly, the emotions drained Nagisa. Securing Augri so she was safely ensconced in a blanket in the center of the bed, Nagisa carefully laid himself down around her, and let himself drift off.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. If you're enjoying this story, I would highly recommend the story that inspired this one: A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle. 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Blinking up, Nagisa found himself once again in his old classroom at his old desk. Sitting up, Nagisa saw the man from his first dream standing next to the chalkboard.

"You've remembered your worth, haven't you?" The man's smile triggered a memory for Nagisa.

"Koro...sensei?" Nagisa whispered, overwhelmed by the feeling he was right.

"Yes." The man, Koro-sensei, answered. "I knew you'd remember. But I guess my original form isn't as familiar. Give me a second."

Blinking, Nagisa was shocked to find the comforting form of a yellow octopus standing in front of him. "Sir."

Running forward, Nagisa threw his arms around his old teacher. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Feeling a tentacle gently rub over his scalp in a familiar touch, Nagisa felt his fatigue melt. "I never wanted to do what I did."

"I know, Nagisa. But you only compound the issue by pushing everyone away. You did what you had to do--and for my part of your situation, I apologize. I never thought the government would come after you children for my death. Especially with how hard they'd tried to kill me." Koro-sensei’s face went bright purple. "I should have considered it."

Nagisa shook his head. "I wouldn't have. And no one can predict the future, no matter how good we are."

Koro-sensei went red, double circles proudly displayed once more. "Correct. So, will you forgive yourself?"

"I don't know. How do you forgive someone who has killed?" Nagisa asked, looking down to see blood dripping off of his palms.

"How did you forgive Irina?" Koro-sensei asked, face once again purple.

"There wasn't anything to forgive. She didn't have a...." Nagisa blinked. "A choice."

"Did you have a choice?" Koro-sensei asked, leading Nagisa to the clearing near the cliff where Karma had made his first real attempt on Koro-Sensei.

Looking at the cliff, Nagisa struggled. "I mean, there probably was one, I just wasn't smart enough..."

Koro-sensei’s face went purple, an X marking his face. "No. Incorrect. Try again."

"I... I didn't have a choice, did I?" Nagisa whispered, fear and anxiety flooding him. Taking a seat on the tree stump, Nagisa fought the wave of anxious energy in order to breathe

"You didn't." Koro-sensei confirmed, tentacles brushing over Nagisa's head to calm him. "You have nothing to be forgiven for. No creature can be blamed for trying to stay alive. Nor can you be held accountable for the actions of others. Nagisa, I've been with you throughout your exile. I saw how careful you were to only take out those who would harm others. You never took out an innocent. That, in my mind, is undying proof of your strength. You saved many others taking out your targets. And with Takaoka, you were acting in self-defense. You’ve made me very proud to have had a hand in helping you become such an assassin. "

"I hate those memories, Sensei. " Nagisa curled up in a ball. "I hate them."

"So, create new ones. Nagisa, I am not disappointed in you. I haven't ever been. The only way you could disappoint me is if you let this second chance go. Please, for me, try again." Koro-sensei said, smile comforting as Nagisa waited a long moment.

"I can... I'll try. But what do I do with the threats? I can’t let someone else die because of me." Nagisa whispered, still looking at the cliff.

"Trust in the others, Nagisa. You think they’re not listening? I know your classmates will have a plan.” Koro-sensei looked to the cliff before stepping in front of Nagisa to block the view of the cliff. “There isn’t a reason for you to jump back into the world you were living in. I promise you that. Trust me?

“Yes. Stay with me?” Nagisa asked, tilting to look up at his teacher.

“I always have, Nagisa. I'm with all of you." Koro-Sensei grinned, yellow and green stripes flashing. "I'm amazing, after all."

Snorting, Nagisa grinned. "You are."

Quietly, the dream started to slip away.

Waking up, Nagisa found himself in a darkened room, alone. _Huh, I guess Professor Bitch and her baby girl headed home. Damn, wish I’d said goodbye before she left._

Mind flashing back to the fading dream, Nagisa came to his own conclusion. _I want to try. But I need to know no one will die. To know that, I have to get someone to answer me!_

Sitting up fully before standing carefully, Nagisa pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. Opening the door to his room, Nagisa moved around the house for the first time since he'd come to the house. Opening the door that he’d discovered led to a hallway, Nagisa poked his head out. _I wonder how long that door has been unlocked…._

Another door was across from his, and a small hallway led to a wide living room area that looked to have been converted to a combo kitchenette and a workout room. The floor was mostly springy mats that would allow the owner to work on his martial arts, and a few punching bags were lined up along the rightmost wall, to the point where the kitchenette started. Glancing around, Nagisa found the stairs up to the main floor, but saw that there was a security system he didn’t have a way around. Walking back down the stairs, he checked out the fridge.

_Anti-biotics… pain meds… and mostly frozen junk food._ Grabbing one of the melon sodas in the fridge door, Nagisa opened it and took a sip as he walked back to the other door across from his room.

Quietly, Nagisa made his way back down the hallway to the door across from to his and opened it to find an office. A desk took up a good third of the room, lined with monitors and binders full of paperwork. The back wall had filing cabinets, and a bookshelf held even more paperwork, textbooks and policymaker books. Below those was the entire manga collection of One Piece. Karma was there, slumped over on the desk, snores bounding off the walls.

Closing the door, Nagisa crept closer, reaching to gently shake Karma. "Karma? That can't be comfortable."

Karma startled back, overbalancing and tipping out of his chair to the floor. "Huh??"

Blinking up at Nagisa, Karma seemed to do a fast reboot. "Nagisa?"

"Yeah, sorry. Didn't mean to spook you." Offering a hand down to Karma, Nagisa waited for Karma to take it before continuing. “I have some questions for you, but it can wait until you get some sleep. Those bags under your eyes could carry a lot of my baggage."

Karma goggled, grasping Nagisa's wrist. "Did....did you just make a joke?"

"I guess?" Nagisa shook his head, face falling back to its more neutral natural resting face. "Come on, let's go."

Karma agreed, leaning on Nagisa as the two walked together to the door. "If you don't mind, I’m going to steal your bed for a bit. I haven’t been getting much sleep. This case is hell.”

"What's going on? Does it have to do with the charges against me?" Nagisa asked, guilt creeping up as Karma slung one of his arms over his back.

Karma slowly started to nod off on his shoulder as he spoke. "Yes, but it'sss not y'ur fault. If y'u start blaming y'rself, I'll smack y'u."

Nagisa flinched a bit. "I... I'll try?"

"Go'd. N’ed to talk to y'u about. ‘ait until I'm c'herent." Karma mumbled, leaning on Nagisa.

"I've never heard you so out of it." Nagisa said, concern filling him as he looked Karma over. "You don't have a head wound, do you?"

Flipping Nagisa off, Karma stutter-stepped his way to the door of the room Nagisa had been in and flopped down on the bed. With little interval between lying down and the snores resuming, Nagisa goggled at the man and felt his heart twitch. _He’s so cute._

Watching over him, Nagisa felt the same flutter that he'd felt when Karma had kissed him to get him to listen back at the hotel in Brazil. "What is this?" He asked himself. "Why am I so interested in Karma?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. If you're enjoying this work, I would highly recommend the one that inspired this work: A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle. 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Hearing no answer--and realizing how much Karma needed the sleep--Nagisa quietly wondered as he sat at the desk, sipping his drink as he considered. Grabbing the phone from his pocket, Nagisa unlocked it for the first time to find the background a photo of him with his parents. Anxiety filled him. _Would they even want to see me now? Are they safe?_

Flicking over to his contacts, Nagisa found his parents listed under a single contact with three numbers: Mom’s cell, Dad’s Cell, Landline.

Sitting on his bed, Nagisa stared at his phone. _Should I even contact them?_

Opening up a messages tab for Ritsu, Nagisa sent her a fast text.

Hey, are you busy right now?

Ritsu: Not for you, Nagisa. It’s good to hear from you. What's up?

I have some questions, and Karma’s out of it. Is there any information you can give me? 

Ritsu: Well…. It depends on what you want to know.

Is there a hit on me, or is there a hit on anyone I care about? How long have I been here?

Ritsu: That is something I cannot answer. I’m sorry.

I need to know, Ritsu. The men and women at my company don’t mess around.

Ritsu: What are you going to do if I tell you? 

_I don’t know. I can’t let anyone die for me._ Switching tactics, Nagisa asked something else.

Would it... be safe for me to contact my parents? 

Ritsu: It probably is. We’ve got them in a protected area. It might be safer to wait until after the trial, though.

What was that bit about a trial? 

Ritsu: We need to clear your name. There's a trial set for a week from now to do so. Has nobody mentioned this? 

No, you would be the first. 

Putting his phone down, Nagisa laid back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Reaching out blindly until he felt the edge of the phone, he pulled it up.

Never mind about catching me up. I'd rather do my own research. If I go online, are you going to interfere with my searching? 

Ritsu: At the moment, we've got your internet restricted to basically entertainment options. We don’t want you to try and contact your old company. I'm sorry, but until we know that you're not going to try to vanish like you did in Brazil, we’ll be restricting your access to information. 

Ritsu: You’re too smart for your own good right now.  😉

That reminds me. How the hell did you guys track me there?

Ritsu: Nakamura took your phone and uploaded me to it via a link. I tracked you through it. Don’t worry, all of my control over your phone was limited. 

Understood. 

Pulling up a browser, Nagisa pulled up a comfort site for him, a streaming site that was run through a huge group of servers to make it impossible to track. Flicking onto one of his favorite slice-of-life shows, he let it play in the background at near mute volume as he wished he knew what to do. _What if the trial doesn't go well? If I go back, I break my promise to Koro-sensei. And what's going on with Karma? I thought he was straight. Why is he suddenly so interested in me?_

Staring down at the sleeping red-head, Nagisa shook his head and reached to pull an extra blanket from the dresser.

Pulling the blanket up around him, Nagisa curled up. _Why was he so insistent on getting me back? And why was I so excited when he kissed me back in Brazil?_

Stuck on the question, Nagisa turned it over and over in his mind. Eventually, he felt a flush take over his body when his mind drifted to a fantasy of the two of them together on the bed, neither injured as they held tight to each other. Feeling color rise into his cheeks, Nagisa pushed aside his phone to go to his bathroom with a change of clothes and a towel. _A cold shower, that’s what I need. Stop thinking like that, Nagisa._

Closing the door and turning on the shower, Nagisa carefully wrapped his injury and stepped under the spray. Heat took over his body, both inside and out.

_Why? Am I interested in Karma?_ Nagisa felt something twine with the friendship he felt for Karma, making it deeper and hotter and sending his temperature soaring even as the cold water brought it back down. Nagisa reached for the shampoo, and began to work it into his hair as he rationalized. “He can’t like me. He doesn’t know me. I’m so different from the last time he saw me, how…” Catching his reflection in the glass door of the shower, Nagisa paused.

The dye he'd use last--the mousy brown he'd hoped would make him stand out less--was washing out and leaving his sky-blue color that he'd hidden so long ago. Staring at his reflection in the glass door of the shower, Nagisa watched as more and more of himself came back from years ago. His eyes were no longer hidden behind contact lenses. His own blue eyes--the ones he'd hidden for years behind yellow contacts that turned his eyes a bright green when he wasn't working, and behind a variant of brown ones when he was--stared back at him. _Maybe I haven’t changed as much as I thought. But I still feel different._

Sitting down, Nagisa stared at his reflection. "What happened to us?"

_We had to fight for our lives. That's what happened._ His reflection answered.

"I don't know if I know who I am anymore. I lost so much of myself when I left Japan. There's no way I could go back to teaching now. And with the gap in my resume, no one is going to hire me. It's not like I could put 'hit man' on it and people would accept it. I don’t know about ‘protection detail’ because that would require me saying for what company and that wouldn’t turn out well. I didn't work really any other job while I was in exile, except for when I needed a cover. But I don't know if those count?"

Letting his head fall back to the tile, Nagisa continued to talk. "And I've never really built relationships--not the business kind, at least. And I'm pretty spotty when it comes to friendships, too. How do I survive in this world? The one I just don't understand. I'm scared to try again. Because what if this happens again? And what do I do if my company puts hits out on them and they are killed? It’ll be my fault. And nobody is telling me anything! I’m so tired of being kept in the damn dark. What happens if someone dies because of me, because I didn’t check in? Most of these people aren’t assassins anymore! If they get attacked, they might die! I don’t know how I’ll live with myself if that happen.” Feeling his throat constrict, he stared at his reflection. 

"Nagisa." Karma's voice spoke from the door to the bathroom.

Startling, Nagisa felt his chest expand and his heart pound as he heard Karma. "How long have you been listening to me ramble to myself? And weren’t you asleep??"

Karma snorted, as he stood in the door frame and faced away from the interior of the bathroom. "Nagisa, it's been, like, four hours. That’s enough of a nap. And I have a few answers for you, if you'll come out to talk to me. I had no idea you were worrying about all of this."

"What else am I supposed to do, Karma?" Nagisa growled, reaching to scrub away the last of the bubbles that had trickled down from his hair. "I've been stuck in the house healing; I haven’t had much else to think about. And nobody is telling me anything!”

Angrily, Nagisa snapped off the taps, reaching for his towel. “Look, never mind. It doesn’t matter. Just leave me alone.”

Wrapping it around his waist and tying it off, Nagisa marched back into his room to find Karma lounging on the bed. Keeping his back to the wall, Nagisa hissed. "Get out so I can get dressed."

Nagisa didn't get a chance to finish his statement, feeling arms come up, wrap around him and then pull him toward and down to the bed. "Karma!"

"Easy. It won’t go anywhere else unless you say it's OK." Karma answered as he wrapped an arm around Nagisa's middle and held tight. "I can tell you what you want. I just want some confirmation that if I let you go to get dressed that you won't shut down on me. Do I have that promise?"

"Fuck, if it’ll get you to let me go, yes! Now let me get dressed!" Nagisa hissed, struggling a bit.

"If you break your promise, I'm breaking down the door and then carrying you--in whatever form of dress I find you in--into my room." Karma threatened as he relaxed his grip on Nagisa and walked out of the room.

"Asshole." Nagisa muttered, quickly pulling on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. Dropping back on the bed, he waited for Karma to get impatient enough to try to break down the door only to find it open.

Not bothering to bat an eye when Karma opened the door with enough force to trip into the room Nagisa rolled over to his side to catch the glare Karma was sending his way.

“Fuck off, Akabane. I’m done with you right now.” Nagisa said, pressing his back to the headboard and returning the glare.

Huffing out a breath, Karma went saccharine. “I’m seriously considering taking you into the gym and sparring you until I can get you to behave. If only you weren’t still injured.”

“Fat chance, Akabane. I won the fight between us last time and I’ve had way more practice.” Nagisa hissed, shoulders tensing up.

Karma’s eyes shone. “Want to bet?”

Feeling his temper start to peak, Nagisa snapped, rolling to his feet grabbing Karma by his collar. “Hell yes.”

An unholy glee took over in Karma’s eyes. “When you’re healed, we’ll go for it. I won’t risk you right now.”

Snatching his hand away, Nagisa snarled. “I’m healed enough, Akabane.”

Before he could say anything else, Karma grabbed Nagisa by his collar and dragged him to pin him against the wall and pressed his lips down on Nagisa. Silencing him with a kiss full of rage, Karma held him flush with his body. After a few seconds, Nagisa bit down, only enough to get Karma to back up a bit, give him space to breathe.

The reaction wasn’t quite what he expected as Karma groaned deep in his throat before backing up a bit. “No.”

Hissing a bit as the pressure changed to heat, Nagisa blushed as he fought the lust gathering in his stomach. “That’s another thing I just don’t understand. You are straight, aren’t you?”

“Nagisa, I hate to tell you this, but straight guys don’t kiss other guys. And unless I’m mistaken, you’ve always identified as male. So, no, I am not straight.” Backing up enough for Nagisa to regain his footing and steadying him when he stumbled. “I won’t fight you right now.”

Nagisa snarled, launching himself at Karma. “Fight me, you coward. Or do you only like inflicting pain when it’s someone who’s helpless?”

Karma grabbed the angry assassin, tossing him away gently so he landed on the bed. “Not now, Nagisa.”

Snarling, Nagisa launched himself again at Karma, but ducked under the arms meant to grab him. Darting in close, he used Karma’s bent knees to launch himself and slam his uninjured shoulder into the man’s chest.

Karma was knocked back against the wall and dropped down winded. “Alright.” The word was dangerous. “If you want to fight that bad, that’s fine. But if you get hurt again, you’re the one in trouble not me.” Standing, Karma grabbed Nagisa’s left wrist and tugged him along to the gym area.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. If you're enjoying this, I would highly recommend the work that inspired this one, A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle.   
> Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Turning to face Nagisa, Karma held up a few fingers “There are rules here: One, if your injury starts bleeding or you feel something dislocate, we stop immediately. Two, you will tell me if you’re hurting and will NOT hide the fact from me. Three, if any move I make makes you uncomfortable, you tell me. I will do the same for you. Four: No weapons. Too much risk at this point. And five: you will tell me what’s going on in that damn thick skull of yours.”

Nodding, Nagisa took up a fighting stance. _Hopefully my stitches and scars won’t rip open._ “Ready when you are.”

Without giving an affirmative, Karma launched himself at Nagisa. Throwing a few fast punches, Karma started to test Nagisa.

Fending him off with ease and one arm, Nagisa smirked. “Wow, that’s all you have? You’ve slid back since we left class.”

Karma’s eyes lit with rage. “You’re going to regret that.”

Throwing a jab, Nagisa got Karma’s ribs. “I have questions.

Time slipped by at the two fought, equals in every way. Karma’s rustiness was matched by Nagisa’s still healing injuries.

“I have answers.” Karma mimicked, knocking Nagisa back with a kick. “What do you want to know?”  
“What is going on! Everyone—and I mean everyone—has refused to tell me how long I’ve been here! My company has a ‘retirement’ policy where they kill their assassin and a few family or friends for good measure.” Nagisa slammed Karma with a flurry of blows. “And I have no idea how long I’ve been here or who is in danger!”

“Is that it? Don’t…” Karma asked, reaching to pull Nagisa into a triangle hold.

Knocking it away, Nagisa stood and screamed before Karma could finish his sentence “You’re shitting me! Your answer is ‘don’t worry about it’? That’s bullshit, Karma. I already have blood on my hands. I don’t want my friends or family to be a part of that!” Nagisa snapped, frustration boiling up and spilling out. “And I don’t know what I’ll do if anyone is taken out because of me. I don’t’ know how I’ll live with it and…”

Launching forward, Nagisa was taken off balance when Karma simply rolled with it and then used the momentum to pin Nagisa down. “Listen to me. “

“Get off! You haven’t been listening to me at all! You don’t get to lecture me.” Nagisa struggled underneath Karma, but pinned against his back he had little recourse.

“No. Nagisa, I don’t.” At the admission, Nagisa paused to look up at Karma as he continued to speak. “I’m sorry I haven’t said anything before now. I wanted you to focus on healing, but it looks like you were worrying about things. To answer your question, you’ve been here about a month.” Karma said, backing up to let Nagisa sit up.

The relief was nearly palpable. “Would have saying that have killed you?”

“No. You’re right. I should have said something.” Karma said, relaxing to lean back onto his palms.

“I’ve asked Professor Bitch multiple times.” Nagisa grumbled as he looked at Karma.

“Well, I don’t answer for her. What else do you want to know?” Karma asked.

“Mostly about the trial. Why hasn’t anyone told me anything about what’s going on?” Nagisa asked, eyes wide.

Karma nodded, and quickly ran through the basics. “It’s the trial to prove that you were ordered to kill Koro-Sensei. That he’d always intended for us to kill him because of the danger he posed to the world. While it was proven that he was less likely to explode, he was still a danger. We’re pushing for a closed courthouse, but with a public presence so the government will pay if they try to railroad us. Our lawyers have been working for years, and we’ve secured testimony from everyone who even remotely knew Koro-sensei. Apparently, he talked about all of us a lot.” Karma continued to explain for a few more minutes before he sighed. “Would you mind going back to sparring? I’m still kind of keyed up.”

“Sure!” Nagisa said, standing. “I think I could use the win.”

Karma glared, but it was playful. “You’re going to eat those words.”

Circling each other, they resumed their sparring. Carefully, they avoided aggravating either side’s bumps and bruises—and the wound in Nagisa’s shoulder. Calling it after twenty minutes, Nagisa held up a hand. “Stop. I need a breather.”

Sweat poured down from his hair, and Nagisa had to blink it out of his eyes. Pulling off his shirt, Nagisa dabbed at his forehead as he turned to look at the fridge. “I want a drink, what about you?”

Turning back to Karma, Nagisa saw the expression of horror on Karma’s face. “What?”

“What… what happened to your back, Nagisa?” Karma asked, face pale before he went red with anger. “Who did that to you? I thought you were a little stiff, but this looks like you have permanent damage.” 

Nagisa winced, reaching around with his left hand to touch one of the triangles on his right side. “I… my first kill…” Shaking a big, Nagisa dropped down to sit on the ground. “He was…skilled.”

“They sent you after a tested fighter as your first?” Karma gaped, dropping down to look at Nagisa. “That’s stupid as hell. Were they trying to kill you?”

“The company? No. My first kill? Yes. It… it was self-defense. The first time, at least.” Curling into a ball with his knees pressed to his chest, Nagisa shivered.

Karma reached out, placing one hand on a knee. “Nagisa… if you’re not comfortable with this, you don’t have to tell me.”

Nagisa shook, tears falling onto his t-shirt. “I want to tell you. I want to trust you. But I’m scared.”

Karma scooted closer, letting his presence and not his touch speak for him. “I’m here. You don’t owe me anything, but I would be happy if you were able to trust me again, Nagisa. I will still be here, though, if this is too much for you.”

“It’s… It’s too much. For now, it’s too much.” The ice-water of the memory seeped through his bloodstream. “I’m so cold.”

Karma stood, moving to grab a blanket from Nagisa’s rooms before coming back to wrap it around him. “Does this help?”

The stability, the support and warmth filled Nagisa as he clutched the blanket around him. “Yes.”

Sitting together, Nagisa held tight to the comfort of the arms around him. “Karma? Why… why are you suddenly interested in me? Romantically, I mean.” Nagisa saw Karma’s flush from the corner of his eye before he looked down at his balled hand in his lap. “I’m just curious because….” Realizing what he’d been about to reveal, Nagisa buried his face to hide his reaction as much as possible. Dropping his voice to a whisper, Nagisa confessed. “I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

Karma seemingly moved closer, but enough to give Nagisa his space. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that? You were whispering.”

“I said, I’ve never felt like this before.” Nagisa said, feeling judgement fall heavy on his chest. “I just didn’t have time or the interest at first, and then I didn’t trust anyone to be that close to me. And I don’t understand why you suddenly seem so interested in me when I know you’ve got better options.” Pulling back a bit, Nagisa sat up and watched the parade of emotions that seemingly passed over Karma’s face. Awe, lust and laughter flashed across his face, only to settle on a weird mix of all three.

Karma blinked; eyes wide. “Better options? The fuck?”

Flushing, Nagisa looked away. “I mean, you do.”

“Ignoring that for now, you’ve never felt like this before?” Karma asked, leaning back in a faux-relaxed pose.

Nagisa pulled away from Karma to see a smug grin he wasn’t entirely sure he liked. “Yes… Why are you looking at me so smugly, Akabane?”

Karma took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm down.

_Is he nervous about something?_ Nagisa waited impatiently as Karma seemed to struggle with words.

Karma finally settled on the words as they tumbled out of him. “Because I haven’t been this excited for something since I set off to find you.” Karma gently pulled Nagisa into a hug again, letting his head fall forward to brush his forehead against Nagisa’s before backing up and sitting back down on the ground. “But before I explain why, I need you to promise me you won’t do anything stupid. No attempting to go back to that life, no trying to sneak out to get hunted down, nothing like that. I can’t lose you, not again. Not when I have a chance to tell you how much I’ve missed you.”

Nagisa pressed his cheek to the blanket as he stared sideways at Karma. “I promise not to do anything stupid, at least not right now.”  
“No, Nagisa. This is serious.” Karma straightened, golden gaze latching onto Nagisa’s blue. “I need you to promise me that you will not put yourself into any serious danger like that again. Ever. No assassinations, no hurting yourself. I will not let you do that.”

Nagisa felt some warmth flood him. “Why? Why do you care about me so much?”

“Because I’ve loved you since we were children.” Karma’s confession echoed in Nagisa’s ears.

“What?” Nagisa breathed, shock filling him up. “But I thought…”

Karma reached to gently press a finger to the blue-haired man’s lips before he spoke. “Shhh, shh. I know, you thought I was straight. Hell, so did I until I got past my senior year of high school and realized I hadn’t had any interest in any of the girls outside of getting them to do something for me—like create a deadly candy for me to leave to the classmates that annoyed me.”

Nagisa snickered at that idea, unsurprised, as Karma continued to talk. “I did have a few flings with a couple of the guys, but I never felt for any of them the way I had for you. I’d actually intended to talk to you the night you fled the country. But, as it turns out, my timing was shit. And then we thought you’d died or been taken out after you dropped contact.”

Reaching up to play with Nagisa’s hair, Karma’s voice came dangerously close to breaking. “And then, for years, it was radio silence. I thought I’d missed my chance, that I’d never get to tell you that my drive to compete with you, to be better than you at everything, had been a ploy to get you to notice me. To get you to try and take me on, because I didn’t know what I was feeling.”

Reaching out to Nagisa, Karma waited until Nagisa accepted to pull him into his lap and hold him close. “Then, a spark of hope came through when you were spotted. True, you’d grown your long hair back and it was a different color. True, your eyes were a dark brown. But I knew it was you the second I saw you in the background of that triathlon photo from New York.”

_That must have been when I was working that case with the trafficking ring and the hackers…_. Shivering a bit, Nagisa tuned back into what Karma was saying. “I’d been working on clearing your name post-mortem, so we could honor you in the way you’d deserved. After I saw you, I convinced Karasuma to get in contact with a few assassins and see if any knew of your whereabouts. As it turns out, he’d recently talked to Smog, who’d tipped him off that you were still alive.”

Pressing a kiss to Nagisa’s forehead, Karma looked up as a few tears slid down his cheeks and then dripped into Nagisa’s hair as Karma held him close. “Suddenly, there was hope to see you, to hold you, again. I started to work harder on your case, and the others came to me to help. All of class 3-E jumped on it, refusing to let you be lost. As soon as we’d gathered enough evidence, hammered out our defense, we made plans to bring you home. We just had to find you. And to do that, we had to create a hit on me.”

Turning so he could see Karma’s face, Nagisa watched as Karma glared as if he were looking back at someone who offended him. “I was scared. I didn’t know if anyone else had picked up the contract, and I was worried you or Rio might get hurt because of my idea. But I didn’t have a better one and I was desperate.”

Brushing his hand down Nagisa’s side Karma wrapped an arm around the back of Nagisa’s hips to hold him more tightly. “And I was right to be afraid. You were hurt. And not only were you hurt, you ran from me. In all of my nightmares, I’d seen it happening but had convinced myself that I’d be able to get you to walk into my arms and trust me.”

Backing up a bit so his back was against the wall, Karma took a shuddering breath. “I need to know that you’ll stay safe, because I don’t know what I’d do if you were to vanish again.”

Nagisa suddenly found it hard to breathe around the ball in his throat. Turning to look at Karma, Nagisa stuttered. “Karma… I…I…”

Reaching up, Nagisa gently drew taller man down to him. Staring into his eyes for permission, Nagisa leaned forward. Pressing his lips to Karma’s, Nagisa held tight to Karma’s shoulders.

Kiss after kiss was met with enthusiasm, as the two leaned into each other. Breathing became rushed as the two quietly pressed against each other. Leaning back so he could pull Karma down on top of him, Nagisa felt heat rush through him where Karma’s weight held him down, helped anchor him in the reality of being held once more by someone who truthfully cared about him. Holding him close, Nagisa felt a few tears of his own start to fall.

Pulling back, Karma blinked. “Are you OK?”

“I just… I haven’t been hugged or held in so long. It’s just a lot.” Nagisa answered truthfully, reclining on his elbows. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

Karma shushed him, a finger to his lips as want slowly gave way to affection. “Don’t apologize. You’re not ready, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Let’s move this somewhere more comfortable for both of us.”

Standing, he offered Nagisa a hand. Taking it, Nagisa was pulled to his feet and an arm was wrapped around him. Leaning into the touch again, Nagisa and Karma made their way back to Nagisa’s room, curling up together under the blanket as Nagisa quietly let all of the lingering emotions go.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story. If you are, I'd highly recommend the story that inspired this one: A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114#workskin

After an hour, Nagisa’s tears had dried and his breathing had calmed enough to let the two lull into a private and warm semi-consciousness. Pressing his head to Karma’s shoulder, Nagisa drifted a bit. “Karma?”

“Hmm?” The red-head responded, rolling his head to meet Nagisa’s gaze.

“I love you, too.” Nagisa said in a rush, before his nerves gave out. “But I’m still scared. I won’t be able to get a job after this, because I have no experience. I don’t even know if it’s possible for me to be a teacher now.”

Karma’s gaze was soft. “Nagisa, I will help you become a teacher if it kills me. I will support you if you want to go back to school, or if you want to try and take your teacher certification test again. You got close to passing the first time.”

Surprised, Nagisa let out a sharp laugh. “But I only finished three-fourth of the test before Professor Bitch showed up.”

“I didn’t say you passed with flying colors, just that you got close to passing.” Karma’s eyes slid closed. “Besides, I bet you could train secret agents on techniques. If you’re really nervous about letting go of all of what you’ve done over the past few years, that might be a way to combine your dreams from before with the skills you’ve developed now.”

Nagisa considered it for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I don’t think I want to teach others how to kill or anything like that.”

“What would you want to teach?” Karma asked, shifting to his side.

“Literature, or International law.” Nagisa said, shocking himself with the answer. _Where’d that come from?_

“Two very dispirit fields there.” Karma reached out to comb one hand in Nagisa’s hair. “But I know you can do it. Do you have a university in mind?”

“No, not yet.” Nagisa said, leaning into the hand brushing through his hair.

“You’ll figure it out. I know you will.” Karma said, smiling.

“I think I need to worry about getting through this upcoming trial first.” Nagisa said, sitting up. “I think I need to be filled in on that, by the way. I need to figure out what I’m going to say.”

Karma groaned. “I know, but can it wait until tomorrow? Several of the others are planning on coming over to help you with that. This is probably going to be last day where we get to spend time alone. Can we do something that isn’t that?”

Snorting, Nagisa laid back down and cuddled up to Karmas right side. “Like what? All we’ve been doing today is fighting and then crying.”

“We also kissed. And now we’re cuddled together talking about future plans. That’s enough for me. What else do you want to do, now that you’re closer to being free?” Karma asked, pulling Nagisa closer.

“I... don’t know? I haven’t thought about it much, and there’s an old saying about counting chickens before they hatch.” Feeling a bit drowsy, Nagisa yawned. “Is it OK if a nap is on the docket?”

Karma chortled, settling in against Nagisa’s back with a gentle kiss. “Hell yes!”

Snorting, Nagisa enjoyed the warmth of another person being close to him as he fell asleep.

Blinking awake, Nagisa found himself wrapped up in Karma’s arm, legs tangled together as they held tight against the night’s chill.

Reaching up, Nagisa gently tangled his fingers in Karma’s hair as he relished in the simple comfort of waking up next to someone. Despite the painful stretch of his muscles, Nagisa continued to run his fingers through the hair. A deep-centered need that he’d ignored for years spilled out of him as he cuddled closer. _So warm…._

“I don’t want this to end.” He confessed to the still-sleeping Karma. “I want to have a life again. I want this.”

Rousing, Karma’s eyes opened to slits. “Hmm?”

“Nothing.” Nagisa said, pressing closer. “Don’t let go.”

“Never.” The sleepy sincerity in Karma’s voice soothed Nagisa. Glancing up, Nagisa checked the alarm clock. “What time are people getting here for testimony shit?”

“They said they’d be here around ten-thirty.” Karma said, sitting up to yawn and stretch. “What time is it, anyway?”

“It’s six-thirty. I guess we both needed the sleep. I don’t think I’m able to sleep anymore, though, so I’m getting up.” Shuffling off the bed, Nagisa made his way to the shower.

“Would you….” Karma asked, standing up. “Mind some company?”

Eyes wide, Nagisa turned back to Karma, blushing. “I…”

“Never mind, it’s probably too fast.” Karma said, backtracking quickly as he sat back down.

Walking back to him, Nagisa reached for his hand. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind. Want to spar first, though?”

“OK, you’re perfect. Yeah. Let’s go.” Karma decided as he led Nagisa back toward the gym.

“Out of curiosity, Karma, how did you find a house with such a large basement?” Nagisa skittered around the implication, but still got the question out.

“I was my usually pleasant sadistic self.” Karma’s grin was near evil. “I was just sad I didn’t get to break out the wasabi.”

“How in the hell did you become a civil servant? You’ve got to be the scariest guy on the council.” Nagisa grumbled, as they entered the gym.

“It works to my benefit. Any of the people who work with me know not to cross me, and my enemies fear me.” Karma said, as Nagisa squinted his eyes. “What’s up?”

“I’m just checking to see if you just sprouted horns.” Nagisa answered, reaching up to tease Karma’s hair. “I swear they were just there.”

Grabbing Nagisa’s wrist and pulling him in, Karma whispered “You can check for ‘horns’ later when we get cleaned up. Until then,” The grip on Nagisa’s wrist tightened, as Karma started to pin him to the wall. “Find your way out of this.”

Pushing back, Nagisa and Karma began to spar.

Lashing out with a fast kick as a lead in, Nagisa wasn’t surprised when Karma used his own momentum against him, pushing his foot aside and pushing his shoulder to knock him off-balance and to the ground.

Following him down, Karma rolled away to avoid the elbow Nagisa sent his way.

After a few more minutes, Nagisa had Karma pinned under him. Breathing heavily, Kama’s gaze went languid as Nagisa relaxed his grip on Karma’s wrists. “I win.”

“I don’t think there’s a winner here.” Karma argued, shifting a bit to knock Nagisa down so their chests met. “If anything, I’m the one with the hot guy on my lap.”

“I won,” Nagisa insisted as he leaned forward and waited for a split second before their lips met in battle. 

Nagisa felt the body beneath his harden, causing his excitement to spike and he pressed closer. Karma’s hand slid down to cup Nagisa ass in his hands before they slid back up. Grinding down onto the hardening erection beneath him, Nagisa groaned. Feeling a hand gently brush over his back, Nagisa felt himself freeze a bit as Karma’s fingers slid up his spine along the edges of the lengthwise scars.

“Nagisa?” Karma backed off once he noticed the sudden stiffness of his partner. “What’s wrong?”

“I… The scars.” Nagisa said, rolling away. “They’re a bad reminder.”

“OK. I gotcha. Is it OK if I touch your chest instead?” Earnestly, Karma pulled his hands away from Nagisa’s back.

The open respect of his nervousness pulled Nagisa back into it. “Yes.”

Reaching up to cup the base of Nagisa’s skull in his hand with the other hand under the shorter man’s shirt and pressed to a pec, Karma pulled him back into a kiss.

As the kisses wound down a bit, Karma huffed out a breath laden with lust. “Not that I don’t want to continue, but we need to get cleaned up. We still need to eat something before the others get here.”

Standing, Karma did a few cool-d own stretches before walking to the doorway to the main floor. “You coming?”

_He trusts me!_ Nagisa followed Karma’s lead as he walked upstairs. Reaching for Karma’s hand, Nagisa felt immense relief when Karma gently grabbed it and held tight.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. Hope you're enjoying the story.
> 
> If you are, I would say that you'd probably also like A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle, as it inspired this work. 
> 
> Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Breaching the first floor, Nagisa blinked at the hallway lined with art. “Why am I not surprised?”

“About what?” Karma asked, glancing over his shoulder.

“About all the art and the superior feel of the house?” Nagisa teased, leaning forward.

“Because I’ve always had excellent taste in everything, including men who are smaller than me.” Karma grinned as Nagisa shoved him. “Oh, come on. At least I said you were in good taste. I could have told the truth instead.”

Letting out a gasp, Nagisa let out an outraged screech as Karma sprinted down the hallway to the master bedroom and bathroom, laughing as he did so. Giving chase, Nagisa tackled Karma to the bed. “You jerk!”

Karma laughed at Nagisa’s outrage. “Aww, babe. You look like an outraged koala. Too cute for words.”

Flipping Karma off, Nagisa stood and looked around for the entrance to the bathroom. Walking in, Nagisa felt his head spin at the space. Wandering around, Nagisa checked out the jacuzzi, the shower and double vanity before he felt a gentle tug on his shirt.

Karma stood behind him, shirt off. Nagisa nearly swallowed his tongue, reaching out to place a hand shakily on his collarbone before running it down his side.

“You going to join me?” Karma asked, running his hand along the hem of Nagisa’s t-shirt.

Reaching down and gently holding onto Karma’s wrist, Nagisa felt a fissure of nerves run though him. “Promise me you won’t freak out too bad about any of my scars.”

“I hate every one of them, because of the pain they’ve caused you. If I ever meet the person who gave you them, I’ll enjoy the time it takes them to die.” Karma’s tone was harsh.

“It was Takaoka.” Nagisa blurted out, shame spreading through his body. “He’d planned on mutilating all of me, starting with my back. The only reason I was able to stop him was because he miscalculated how long the designer drug he used would keep me down.” Reaching up to brush at his cheek along the ridge between his chin and ear, Nagisa shuddered. “He’d planned on giving me marks like his.”

“Nagisa…” Karma seemed shocked as the words poured from him. “I….”

“And I panicked when the drug wore off. He’d gotten me isolated and I didn’t know how to get out. I pulled the knife he’d left around me from the ground. I grabbed it and pretended I was still drugged. Then, when he got closer again, I jabbed it into his throat. There was so much blood.” Horror held him bent in half, stomach roiling as he kept talking. “I thought I’d be able to stop the bleeding and then run like hell. I forgot it was a three-sided blade. They’re outlawed for a reason. I didn’t mean to kill him, Karma. I just…” Nagisa felt panic push through his body. “I…”

Karma gently silenced him with a kiss. “Shhhh… it’s OK, babe. You had no choice.” Sitting down on the tile, Karma pulled Nagisa against his bare chest, gently stroking over his hair. “Not your fault. It was self-defense.”

“I hate what he did to me, Karma. I hate that I have to be reminded when I take a bath and I rub against scar-tissue.” Nagisa whispered. “I hate that part of my body.”

Karma said nothing, just letting Nagisa spill some of the burden he’d carried with himself for the years he’d been without a support system.

Slowly, Nagisa recounted everything he’d done over the four years they’d been separated. Starting with his escape from the police in England to the moment he’d caught Karma’s red hair in his scope. At the end, Nagisa found the load on his shoulders had lessened a least enough for him to breathe properly again. Pressing his soggy face to the area where Karma’s collarbone met his shoulder, he let out a shuddering sigh. “Sorry.”

“No. Don’t be.” Karma’s voice was tense, but the edge to it was love and rage entrapped in the same blade. “I hate that you had to suffer. But I will not put that anger on you. I am mad at the situation. At the bullshit you endured. But you, you are amazing. You are strong. You are incredible, Nagisa. I love you, and I love how much I know that this was self-defense. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Takaoka does, but the bastard’s dead. I can’t do anything to him. That sucks. I’d have loved to give him a taste of his own medicine.”

Nagisa started to shake. “I didn’t mean to give you the burden.”

“Nagisa, I want to help you with your past. And part of that is knowing how to help you. Now, I promise I won’t mention your scars again. But I think getting professional help—other than helping Professor Bitch with her psychology degree—would help lift the burden even more. Anyway, we need to get ready. Do you still want to shower together, or should I wait for you to be done?” Karma asked, tilting his head back to meet the shy one-eyed gaze Nagisa sent his way.

The love and care that Karma projected calmed him down. “I want to shower together—but just so we are ready when people get here. I don’t think I’m ready for sex yet.”  
“Who said anything about sex?” Karma raised an eyebrow, but Nagisa saw the way laughter flitted through his gaze.

“Like you weren’t grabbing my ass earlier because you thought we’d get there today.” Nagisa accused, and Karma let out a gut-busting laugh.

“Nah, I just like to grab your ass. It’s my new favorite toy.” Reaching around to grab the body part under discussion, Karma squoze just hard enough to get Nagisa to moan. _I might bruise._

“MMmph!” Feeling his body react, Nagisa took a few deep breaths as he pressed closer to Karma’s chest.

Karma’s eyes went wide and evil. “You like that.”  
Blushing, Nagisa nodded.

“Oh, it’s going to be fun to find out just how kinky you are once you’re comfortable.” Karma said. Letting go and stepping back, Karma turned on the water to hot and stripped the rest of the way. Stepping under the spray, he held out a hand to Nagisa. “Ready?”

Reaching down, Nagisa grabbed the hem of his shirt. Taking a deep breath, he shucked it. Wrapping his arm, Nagisa sighed at the flash of pain.

“God, you’re still skinny.” Karma’s grin had Nagisa stripping off the rest of his clothes and shoulder checking Karam as he joined him under the waterfall.

“Fuck you.” Nagisa grumbled. “Not all of us got lucky enough to get genes like a Greek deity.”

“So you like the way I look?” Karma asked, leaning over Nagisa to cage him in just a bit.

“Yes.” Nagisa muttered, reaching for the shampoo.

“It’s nice to hear it.” Karma admitted, reaching for the body wash. “But we’ll hammer everything else out later.” Dumping out a small puddle of sandalwood bodywash, Karma gently started to rub his hands over his chest and body, quickly washing away the sweat they’d generated during sparring.

Scrubbing some shampoo through his hair, Nagisa watched the last of the dye drop off his hair. Reaching up he pulled his bangs, Nagisa observed the clean, innocent blue they’d once again turned. 

Another hand gently scrubbed over his head. “It’s good to see it again, although are you going to want to cut it short again?”

“Shorter, at least.” Nagisa said, running his hands through his hair up to his scalp. “Maybe not a buzzcut, but shorter.”  
“Cool. We’ll get that done once we’re done with the trial.” Handing him the bodywash, Karma took the shampoo. “Now hurry up, we’ve got to check out the fit of the suit I had my assistant pick out.”

Later, in the dark navy suit that’d been handed to him, Nagisa stared at himself in the mirror as he pulled his hair back up into the familiar pigtails. Leaving off the suit jacket, Nagisa felt something akin to nostalgia take him over.

Stepping out to find Karma there in a pair of jeans and t-shirt, he laughed. “I feel like I’ve time traveled back to middle school.”

“You kind of look it.” Karma laughed as Nagisa flipped him off. “What? Babe, you’re still teeny-tiny babi boy.”

Sighing, Nagisa shifted under the clothes. “I feel so weird. I haven’t been in anything like this since I left Japan.”

“Really? No suits in your wardrobe?” Karma asked, eyes wide.

“Nah, I passed myself off as a teen. More often than not, people gave me a pass because ‘I was obviously just a kid.” Nagisa grinned at the other mans exasperated sigh. “What?”

“What I wouldn’t give to get the same pass sometimes.” Karma dramatically flopped onto his bed.  
“Oh, yes, because it must be just awful to be a six-foot something who could attract the gods themselves.” Nagisa snarked, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, it fits. Now can I take it off?”

“Nah, and not just because you look hot as hell in it.” Karma said, enjoying the way the blue-haired man’s cheeks lit up. “We think it might be a good idea for you to get comfortable talking in it.”

“You mean I haven’t been talking until now?” Nagisa grumbled, but allowed himself to be led from the room.

“You know what I meant.” Leading the way to the formal dining room, Karma tugged on him. “Let’s go, we’re cutting it close as is.”

“Wow, I finally get to explore upstairs when it’s daytime?” Nagisa half-griped as he had to jog to keep up with six-foot something legs. “Slow down.”

“I can give you a piggyback.” Karma suggested, laughing when Nagisa punched at his ribs. “I deserved that, but come on. We don’t have all day.”

Punching at his partner’s ribs again, Nagisa took deep satisfaction in the grunt Karama let out as they breached made their way through the main floor. Gorgeous furniture, art and opulence filled the room.

“Whoa.” Nagisa said, eyes wide as he looked over the house. “This looks like a stuffy politicians house where he holds those fancy parties that adults used to dress up for.”

“Well, I am a politician.” Karma said, putting a hand on Nagisa’s shoulder to steer him. “But I’m not stuffy.”

“Mmmhmmm.” Nagisa let the skepticism leak into the syllables, laughing quietly as the hand on his hip tightened in warning. “OK, OK. From what I’ve seen, you’re not stuffy.”

Leaning around Nagisa, Karma opened a door and gave him a gentle push. “Jerk.”

“You started it, with the shortness cracks.” Nagisa said, looking back to Karma as the two walked into the room.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!
> 
> If you're enjoying this story, I can say that it inspired by A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle. 
> 
> Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Cheers erupted from around the room, shocking Nagisa back into a fighting stance as fear rushed through him. “What?”

Looking around the room, Nagisa felt his jaw drop as he saw all of his old classmates from 3-E, along with both teachers there as well. The fear dulled, but stayed in his gut as he wasn’t used to this many people around him anymore.

“Nagisa!” Voice from the room called out. “We’ve missed you.”

Walking toward everyone as if in a trance, Nagisa marveled at how everyone had changed but were still familiar enough for him to pick out who was who.

Making his way around the room, Nagisa was greeted with careful hugs and handshakes, with joy and love, from every person in the room. When he’d made a full circle to where Karma waited, Nagisa turned with a smile on his face that he hadn’t been able to wear in years. “I’ve missed all of you.”

“We’re just glad to see you’re OK, Nagisa.” Karasuma spoke from his wife’s side, as he cradled his daughter to his chest. “We certainly thought we’d lost you when we couldn’t find you.”

Nodding, Nagisa bowed his head. “I’m sorry about that, but…”

“You don’t have to tell me.” Karasuma interrupted, pushing away the rest of Nagisa’s explanation. “What you did, you did to survive. And from what my contact said, you acted closer to a government black-ops officer than anything else.”

Hearing the grace Karasuma offered him, Nagisa let hope fill him again. “Thank you, Agent Karasuma.”

“Just promise not to give all of us a hard time anymore and we’ll call it good.” Everyone around the table laughed at the reminder of their shared past, before they got back down to business. After a knock sounded, an unfamiliar man and woman walked in and introduce themselves as Nagisa’s lawyers.

“I’m Yui Kato,” The woman said, then gestured to the man. “And this is Sota Inoue. We’ll be representing you at your trial.” Holding out her hand, she smiled.

Taking it, Nagisa shook it. “Nagisa Shiota. Thank you, I am grateful for your assistance.”

The rest of the day was spent with everyone giving testimony to the lawyers, explaining everything that had happened in class 3-E. From the moment that Koro-sensei had walked into the classroom to the tragic and bittersweet ending where, as a group, class 3-E had fulfilled the wishes of their teacher and ended his life.

Tears had fallen a bit at the memory, and after that they’d pulled out their yearbooks and ‘advice from your Koro-sensei’ books. Flipping through his own copies, Nagisa felt joy warm as he turned over the familiar pages. “How did you guys get my copy? I thought it’d been taken as evidence or destroyed.”

“Nope.” Karma leaned over his shoulder, looking at the photo Nagisa had paused on of the two of them. “While you were hanging out with the teachers, several of us had gone to your apartment and picked up the super important stuff. We kept it hidden until we knew we were clear. After that, we were planning on using it for a memorial for you up at the old classroom.”

Nagisa’s vision blurred. “You guys really went all out for me. Thank you.”

Various voice spoke.

“Of course, we did.” Sugino.

“You are our friend.” Itona

“You’re important to us.” Kayano.

“Damn octopus would’ve haunted us if we didn’t bring you home.” Terasaka.

Reaching for a glass of water so he’d be able to control his emotions, Nagisa took a deep sip and swallowed to push down the overwhelming gratitude to all of those around him.

“We missed you.” Karma’s voice came from behind his chair again as he leaned over and pressed his cheek to Nagisa’s temple.

Everyone flashed an inquisitive smile at the two men as they looked like a happy couple, embracing at the head of the table.

“So….” Nakamura asked, “When’s the wedding?”

Choking on the sip of water he’d been taking, Nagisa wheezed a bit. “What?”

“I’ve seen you two together. When’s the wedding?” Nakamura said, enunciating and bringing attention to her question.

Nagisa went cool as he stood. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh really?” Her grin went evil. “Good thing I snapped a few photos when we found you.”

Heat flew to his face. “If you do not stop taking photos of me, I swear to god I will find a way to disable the camera on your phone.”

Everyone snapped their attention to Nakamura. “Send us the photos,” was the unanimous decision of the group while Nagisa protested.

Feeling the calm tide start to receded under a tidal wave of panic at the thought of having such an adult private moment so openly on display, Nagisa quietly stood and exited while chaos reigned as the pictures were delivered. _This is different from the kiss I shared with Kayano._ Making his way back downstairs, Nagisa pressed his back to the edge of the hallway and took more than a few deep breaths to fight the tide that threatened to drag him under.

Hearing the door above open, Nagisa slipped away as he ran on silent feet back to his room. Locking the door, Nagisa pulled off the suit with a quiet desperation to get rid of the feeling of being trapped. Reaching into a drawer he pulled out the striped shirt he’d worn most often, pulling on the comfort of the shirt before falling to his bed.

Hearing a knock on the door, Nagisa shifted a bit as he waited for whomever was there to speak.

“Hey. Open up.” Karma said, voice gentler again. “You OK?”

Standing, Nagisa shuffled to unlock the door and open it an inch before retreating again. Karma entered, saw the shirt Nagisa was wearing, and then shut the door behind him before he crossed to sit near the ex-assassin. “You’re wearing your old shirt, is everything OK?”

“No.” Nagisa spat, suddenly unreasonably angry at himself. “I shouldn’t have gotten so upset at being around people or about some light teasing from Nakamura.”

“Give yourself a break.” Karma advised, reaching to Nagisa’s neck to guide him toward the himself.

Instinctively, Nagisa pinned the arm away from him as he struggled to breathe. After a second, his mind clicked back on and he felt a deep shame wash over him. “I’m sorry.” Pulling away and backing up to the headboard, Nagisa withdrew into himself. “I’m a danger to you. I didn’t mean to be. I’m sorry.”

“Nagisa.” Karma spoke firmly. “Look at me, and take a deep breath.”

Obeying, Nagisa lifted his gaze to meet Karmas. Slowly, he began to mimic the steady rhythm Karma had.

After Nagisa had a moment to get his breathing under control, Karma spoke. “You are allowed to get overwhelmed. You’re also allowed to leave if you need to. You’re allowed to be upset that something you felt was private was shared. Everyone has already deleted the photos from their phone. I have a copy, but that’s because the photo involves you and me. If you ask me to delete it, I will. It’s OK, you’re fine. You’re not a danger to me, because if you’d actually intended to hurt me, you would have.” Karma slowly slid closer as Nagisa visibly calmed down. “Now, can I hold you?” Opening his arms, Karma let Nagisa decide.

Falling into the embrace, Nagisa sighed. “I’m sorry.”  
“Don’t be.” Karma said, pressing his chin to the top of Nagisa’s scalp. “You’re OK.”

“I really did miss everyone. I’m sorry I freaked out, but I don’t handle crowds well anymore. I stuck mainly to ambush assassinations and sniping. I’m not used to crowds of people.” Nagisa whispered, closing his eyes. “I think I just hit my threshold.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that.” Cupping Nagisa’s chin in his hand, Karma lifted his partner’s head. “If you’re OK with it, most of them want to talk to you a bit more. Would you feel more comfortable with one on one? Or a small group?”

“Actually, once I finish changing out of this damn suit, I think I want to try again upstairs?” Nagisa admitted, leaning into Karma. “And I guess it does make it easier on me if everyone knows that you’ve staked your claim on me.”

Karma let out a braying laugh. “Ha. That’s one way to put it. Get changed, I’ll meet you upstairs.” Walking out of the room, Karma closed the door behind him again.

Offering a relieved smile, Nagisa nodded before quickly shucking the rest of the suit and pulling on a pair of tan shorts.

Poking his head back upstairs, Nagisa curled back up next to Karma and the two worked their way through the rest of the day. The party wound down as the sun started to set, with Agent Karasuma, Professor Bitch and their sleeping daughter were left.

As they grabbed their coats, Nagisa held out his arms. “Do you want me to hold her while you’re getting ready to go?”

Karasuma smiled. “Sure, that’d be great.” Carefully sliding his daughter into Nagisa’s arms, Karasuma pulled on his coat. “Nagisa. I have a bit of information I didn’t want the others to know.”

Unsure, Nagisa nodded as he held Augri tighter. “Yes?”

“Coral Snake was a contact of the Japanese government throughout his time as an assassin. We would contact his agency and they would contact him for protection detail abroad. When I said you were working as a government contact, I was being serious.” Karasuma’s face went sharp. “On behalf of the government, thank you for the work you did. Oh, and also, a mutual friend of ours asked me to pass on a message to you: ‘Ranger and Hunter are fine, I’ve got them.’”

Nagisa felt shock go through him as he processed the first part. “But I never took a job in Japan. It was way too risky for me to do so.”

“You didn’t, but the bodyguarding jobs you took were mostly of our ambassadors.” Karasuma stated, eyes boring into Nagisa. “Did you truthfully not know?”

Nagisa looked down, focusing on Augri as he spoke. “No, I didn’t. I did my best to forget my country of origin after…” Unable to finish the sentence, Nagisa shook his head. “After.”

“Ah.” Karasuma reached out for his daughter. “I understand. Still, the government owes you, and not just for what they took from you. If you need help, there are several people who know who you are and are willing to help. Most of them are contacts of mine that I can give you the number of. Including help find a job, if that’s a concern of yours.”

Nagisa was floored. “Wait, there are people who know about me? About what I’ve done? And they still want to help?”

“Yes, yes, and yes.” Karasuma humor had Nagisa blinking. _I didn’t know he had a sense of humor. Professor Bitch is a miracle worker._

“I…I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, sir. I know it couldn’t have been easy on you.” Nagisa said, bowing his head a bit. “Thank you.”

“What they did to you was wrong. I had no qualms about helping you.” Karasuma said, reaching to take Augri. “We’ll be in touch.”

“Isn’t he just the best?” Professor Bitch said, eyes soft as she looked at her husband. “Nagisa, don’t be a stranger, OK, sweetie?”

Nodding, Nagisa said “Of course. Be safe on the ride home.”

With the final goodbyes out of the way, Nagisa retreated into the house to find Karma. “Karma?”

Walking around upstairs, Nagisa explored as he’d been unable to until this point. Hearing a keyboard at work, Nagisa knocked on the door. “Karma?”

“Come in.” Karma’s voice was muffled, distracted.

Opening the door, Nagisa found Karma busy at the computer. “What’s up?” He asked as Nagisa moved to sit at the front of his desk.

“What happens now?” Nagisa asked, as he leaned against the edge of Karma’s desk.

“Well, the lawyers will be gathering other testimony outside of our class. I know they’re talking to Kunugigaoka to get financial record for all the times the principal shook down the defense ministry.” Karma relayed, half-aware as he worked. “They’ll talk to everyone and we’ll meet them at the court house when it’s time for the trial.”

“Do I need to worry about practicing my testimony?” Nagisa asked.

“I mean, it won’t hurt you to practice.” Karma said, eye routed to his computer screen. “I have some work I need to get done.”

A little shocked by the harsher brush off, Nagisa nodded before exiting without saying anything.

Walking downstairs, Nagisa reached for the cellphone. Pulling up a search engine, Nagisa started to research college programs and law school requirements. Pulling out a tablet, Nagisa started to jot down a list of things he’d need to get into law school.

_Hmm…. I’d need to get my transcripts from all of my schooling. I wonder if I passed or if I got a drop out after basically vanishing. If I write them, would they still have my transcript? Or maybe my mom got them? I don’t know._

Pulling up his old school, Nagisa clicked a few links to find out how to contact the correct office in order to get his transcript before seeing the classes offered. “Hmm…”

Flicking through the available classes, Nagisa found himself interested in a few of the classes being offered at that time. “That’d be interesting…”

Scrolling through the catalogue, Nagisa found a few of his older professors still teaching. _I wouldn’t mind going back._

After a few hours, Nagisa made his way back to the small kitchenette and pulled out the container of lunch meat, cheese, and a couple slices of bread. Slapping them together, Nagisa took a few bites as he continued to scroll through the requirements.

After a few more hours of planning on his part, Nagisa switched over to a streaming service as he laid down on his bed. Putting the phone off to the side after twenty minutes, Nagisa laid back to stare at the ceiling. As he started to fall asleep, Nagisa heard his door open. “Nagisa?”

Falling under before Karma could say anything more, Nagisa didn’t feel the gentle kiss placed on his forehead as his bangs were brushed away from his eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!   
> Hope everyone is doing OK. 
> 
> Anyway, if you like this story, you'd probably like its predecessor, A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

He didn’t know where he was, but the figure of Takaoka looking over him, face growing and growing until it was the only thing he could see. The sound of the spiel he’d given Nagisa run in his ears as Nagisa struggled against the paralytic but wasn’t able to move. Then, the nightmare twisted to have Karma as the one being cut up as Nagisa couldn’t do anything about it. Jolting half-awake with a scream stuck in his throat and sweating hard, Nagisa shuddered and fought against the wall pinning him down. When the wall gave with a grunt, Nagisa came fully awake. Sitting up in a rush, Nagisa took a second to remember where he was and that he was OK. Looking down, he saw Karma next to him as the man rolled over to his side to avoid the movement of the assassin next to him.

Taking a few breaths, Nagisa began to coach himself through a calm-down routine. _It’s OK. He can’t get you. He can’t get you. Karma’s trained, he’ll be OK. It’s OK. He’s Ok, just look down._

Rolling back over in his sleep, Nagisa caught sight of dark circles under Karma’s eyes. _He seems exhausted. Is this too much for him? Should I be here? Maybe if I were somewhere else he’d be able to sleep better. It can’t be easy knowing there’s a hit out on your house guest._

Reaching for his phone with sluggish fingers, Nagisa gently looked through the messages that were waiting for him with a feeling of dread. _Can I deal with this later?_

A few were details for his upcoming trial, a few invitations for visits and chats after he was freer to move around the city.

But one text—from an unknown number—had his mind quietly calculating the danger of opening it. Deciding that he couldn’t simply ignore this text, Nagisa clicked on the message. _This is going to be bad._

Unknown: Coral Snake, this is your warning. Your old company has put out a hit on Karma as a punishment designed for you. Be careful, Snake. Blend in and hone your awareness of your surroundings, especially the skies.

Feeling himself narrow back into the assassin’s mindset, Nagisa carefully considered what could be the best time to pin Karma down for an execution. _Whoever this is, it’s likely that they’re closer to a sniper than anything else. It could be an ambush fighter, but Karma was well known as the best fighter in the classroom. The company researched me, they likely also looked into my classmates. So, a sniper. He’d probably have the best shot in a place where Karma’s comfortable—I.E. at home or at his office. Some place he wouldn’t think someone would attack him. Or, it’ll be in a place where it’s easy to blend in, with good sight lines._

Groaning inwardly, Nagisa pulled up the street view of the courthouse he’d been told they were going to. _Would you look at that, plenty of areas for a sniper to hide. What am I going to do? I can’t lose him. I’ll have to figure a way out to deal with it._

Looking around street view, Nagisa sighed. “I can’t handle that on my own. What do I do?”

Karma grumbled, asleep, next to Nagisa as he realized that if he wanted to keep this a secret that he should move away. Standing, he started to climb off the bed when he heard Karma’s breathing lighten as he started to wake up. “N’g’sa?”

Saying nothing, Nagisa clutched the phone to his chest as he sat back down.

Karma woke up over the next few minutes, reaching out to find Nagisa at the foot of the bed. “You alright?”

_Just tell him you are. He’s already done enough for you._ “I….” Nagisa started to lie, only to find the words catching in his throat. “I…”

Stopping Nagisa started to slide off the end of the bed when he felt arms reach out and pull him back by his hips. “Babe. What’s going on?”

Giving in, Nagisa handed Karma his phone and slid out of the embrace to stand off the side of the bed, just out of reach. “There’s been a hit put out on you. They must have realized that you’d been the one to come collect me, and decided that I have to be punished because I deserted them.” Hunching his shoulders, Nagisa found himself falling to his usual defensive position. “I’m going to shower.”

“Nagisa.” Karma spoke, firm. “Wait. Are you OK?”

“Yes.” Nagisa lies, keeping his back to Karma. _Thank god my ability to control my voice hasn’t deserted me._ “I am.” The wetness trickling down his cheek belied his words, but with his back to Karma, he knew that it didn’t matter.

“Look at me and say that.” Karma demanded, reaching to grab Nagisa by his left shoulder and accidentally brushing a triangle shaped scar near the ridge of his shoulder.

At the feeling of the scar being brushed, Nagisa reverted to pure instinct and training, Grabbing Karma by his wrist, Nagisa threw him into the wall and booked it before Karma hit the floor. Running full speed, Nagisa made his way through the hallway and up to the stairs before the doors audibly clicked with magnetic locks and blocked his path. Hissing, Nagisa glanced around and found himself trapped as he heard footsteps following him.

Pulling in a deep breath, Nagisa was still deep in planning an escape route as Karma came up behind him. “Nagisa?”

Nagisa didn’t respond outside of a hiss, backing up until his back hit the door. “Get away.”

Holding up his hand, Karma nodded. “Alright. Take a deep breath.”

Nagisa growled, but after ten minutes of breathing his adrenaline slowly dropped as his body dropped out of fight or flight. Blinking, the guilt of what he’d done swept over him and he collapsed against the doors. “I’m sorry.” Nearly inaudible, Nagisa apologized again and again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Shh.” Karma soothed, moving closer to Nagisa and reaching out to put a hand close to Nagisa’s side to test how comfortable the other was with touch. When Nagisa didn’t flinch away, Karma moved to sit next to him. “Not that I’m not going to pay you back for that, but what the hell happened?”

“I… was already stressing about how exhausted you seemed. You have huge dark circles under your eyes and you seem so stressed because of me. And then I saw the text and it brought back the nightmare I woke up with. I know it’s real because of the use of my call signal. I’m not OK. I can’t… I can’t lose you, Karma.” Nagisa shook, anxiety taking over. “And then you reached out and brushed one of my scars. I panicked.”

“Alright.” Karma stood, offering a hand. “Let’s try this again. Please come down with me.”

Standing, Nagisa moved down the stairs past Karma while keeping his distance. “I’m sorry for all the problems I’ve caused.”

“No, stop blaming yourself.” Karma started to reach out, only to have Nagisa slip further down the stairs. “Nagisa. Stop. Now.”

Hearing the anger in his tone, Nagisa raised his head. Letting his gaze meet Karma, he used his protective shell to distance the words that came next. 

But no words came as Karma came down the stairs. Gently taking Nagisa’s wrist in his hand, he led him back to the bedroom. Pushing Nagisa back down to the bed, Karma knelt in front of him

“Nagisa Shiota. Look at me.” The command in Karma’s voice nearly broke through the barrier he’d erected. “I love you.”

Those words did it, as Nagisa tried to pull away. “You should have left me. You’d be better off. You wouldn’t be in danger. This is what I’ve been afraid of.”

“No.” The rage in Karma’s voice startled him, causing him to pull even further back.

Karma didn’t let up, following Nagisa until his back hit the wall. “No. I shouldn’t have left you behind.” Grabbing Nagisa’s chin, Karma pressed his lips down on him in an angry kiss.

Nagisa didn’t fight back, simply kissing back as he struggled to figure out what all he was feeling.

Pulling back, Karma took a deep breath. “Now, are you listening to me?”

Nodding, Nagisa felt a hand on his. Unable to resist the comfort of it, Nagisa took it in his own.

Karma waited until Nagisa settled a bit. “You. Are. NOT. Responsible. For. ANY. Of. THIS. Full stop. Period. Nothing else there. This is NOT YOUR FAULT.” Seeing Nagisa flinch at the tone, Karma softened it again. “Yes, I’m tired. Yes, I’m a little stressed. Stupid potential ambassadorship… And yes, there has been a hit put out on me—good luck with that, I would relish beating something right now—but none of that is your fault. I’m tired because my job is stressful, same reason I’m stressed. It’s also part of the reason I brushed you off so coldly last night.”

Eyes soft, Karma stared at Nagisa with adoration. “Lord knows that if that stupid clerk gets in my way again, I’m going to go ballistic, but again. Not. Your. Fault. The hit is worrying—especially because you were thinking of keeping it from me.” Surprised Karma had caught on to his plan, Nagisa lifted his head eyes wide. Karma continued. “I could see how tightly you were holding the phone. You were trying to figure out how to deal with it on your own. But you are not alone, and it wouldn’t have been your fucking place to keep that from me. If my life is in danger, I deserve to know. Understand?”

Nodding, Nagisa shifted uncomfortably against the wall. “Are… are you OK?”

“Little sore, but it’s not major. I was just impressed something so small could pick me up.” Shifting to humor, Karma ran a hand over Nagisa’s hair. “Now, what happened with your scars?”

Tugging his shirt aside, Nagisa ran his finger over the aforementioned scar. “You hit this, and it caused me to spiral.”

Karmas concern echoed as he spoke. “They really hurt you, even now.”

“Gee, no shit.” Nagisa grumbled, shaking himself.

“What if we could reclaim them?” Karma asked, turning Nagisa to face him.

_That took a left turn outta nowhere…._ Confused but curious, Nagisa raised an eyebrow. “How?”

“Well, what if I were to remark you? That way the scars are made by me and not by that piece of shit.” Karma offered; eyes soft. “That way, you wouldn’t have to think of him anytime someone touched them?”

“I just flipped out when you accidentally brushed one.” Nagisa said, reaching to run his finger over the scar. “I don’t know if I’d be able to handle you touching one, let alone using a knife on them.”

Karma nodded. “OK. It was just a thought.”

Feeling the warmth of Karma’s hand on his, Nagisa pulled gently on his hand. “I…maybe we can work up to it. I don’t know, can this wait until after the trial?”

“Of course. But I need to know what’s going on inside your head, Nagisa. You are not alone. That text freaked you out. Why?” Karma asked, then his stomach rumbled. “Let’s get food.”

Shuffling along behind him, Nagisa kept his gaze down. “I’m not super hungry.”

“OK, then you can explain while I eat.” Karma said, starting a few eggs. “What’s got you so freaked out?”

“Besides the fact that there’s either a sniper or an ambush assassin after you? The fact that the reason they’re after you is because of me? Gee, what could have possible made me upset about that?” Nagisa said, putting his head down on the counter. “God, I wish this was easier.”

“Same.” Karma said, scrambling his eggs. “But it isn’t, so we’ll deal. Now you think its an ambush assassin or a sniper. Why?”

“The part about blending in, and the reference to keeping an eye on the skies. Likely code for those two types of assassins. Although it could be a reference to a poisoner, but I doubt it as the only poisoner in the company is Smog, and I think he’s the one who sent the text. I’m leaning toward sniper because the courthouse is a pretty good place to be sniped.” Nagisa answered, letting the cold of the counter top soak in.

“It could be both. It would make sense that if you were to attack a man guarded by an assassin to have multiple assassins so that if the guard is busy the other can take out the target.” Karma said, and Nagisa groaned.

“You’re totally right. Why didn’t I think of that?” Nagisa started to plan. “Well, if that’s the case…”

“If that’s the case, we’ll ask the others to be on alert.” Karma stated, calm.

“How the hell are you so calm?” Nagisa asked, only to be rewarded with Karma’s devil-may-care grin.

“I’m smarter, stronger and a better fighter. Bring it on.” Karma said. Plating his eggs, Karma sat next to Nagisa. “And I trust you. What I can’t do, you can.”

“That’s a lot of faith to have in someone who just threw you against a wall.” Nagisa grumbled.

“And yet, I still trust you. Now shut up and eat some of this.” Karma said, handing Nagisa the extra fork he’d picked up without him noticing.

“Alright.” Nagisa said, taking the fork. “Thank you.”

“Just eat.” Karma said, munching on his bite.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.......................
> 
> Firstly, CHECK THE TAGS~! THEY'VE BEEN UPDATED. 
> 
> Secondly, I am not a great smut writer, but I still want to sharpen that skill, so I chose to try. I understand if it doesn't come off super well. Forgive me! 
> 
> Also, I'm kinda saying 'screw it' and making this chapter pretty long. Enjoy.
> 
> Oh, and standard reminder : This work was inspired by NoteInABottle's A Contract Between Killers and is awesome. You should totally check it out at this link!~: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

After breakfast and clean-up, Nagisa felt the tension rachet up as Karma kept trying to get Nagisa to talk again about the assassins and he kept avoiding the subject. Eventually, Nagisa stormed off to the bathroom and shucked his clothes quickly before stepping under the spray. Hearing the door open, Nagisa gaped as Karma came into the room. Saying nothing, Karma stripped off his clothes and stepped in the shower behind Nagisa. Crowding him in, Karma reached for him. “I know you’re upset. Talk to me.”

“I… I don’t want to imagine what could happen at the courthouse. What would be—essentially—my fault.” At Karma’s glare, Nagisa rushed to get the rest out. “If you get hurt, I don’t know how I’m going to survive, Karma. You are one of my best friends—potentially even more, as the last few days have proven. How am I going to deal with the knowledge that you got hurt because of me? That you might get killed because of me? I didn’t like it when you were in fights when we were younger, I don’t know how to handle this now.” Nagisa said, letting the water wash away everything.

“You trust me.” Karma said, arms wrapping gently around Nagisa’s waist, pulling him close and tilting his chin so their gazes met. The intimacy of the action—the closeness of their bodies, the trust and love Karma held in his gaze—nearly had Nagisa breathless as he pressed close. Running his thumb over Nagisa’s cheekbone, Karma held tight. The words rang in Nagisa’s ears as he remembered Koro-sensei’s advice. _Trust in your classmates._ “You trust me to know what I’m doing. To know how assassins operate. I was trained by Koro-sensei, too. I can handle it. Please, just trust me.”

Nagisa nodded, reaching down to take one of the hands that was holding him. “Alright.” Guiding the hand up to where the scar on his neck was, Nagisa gently place Karma’s hand on the scar. “I trust you.”

Karma’s eyes were wide, and they went soft at the trust Nagisa was placing in him. “Thank you.” Pulling him close, the two embraced as the warm water created its own serene environment.

The rest of the time spent up to the trial was the two running through Nagisa’s testimony, occasional visits from other classmates, and working slowly on developing their relationship so Nagisa was comfortable with touches to places where he had scars as well as defining boundaries for both of them as Nagisa healed enough that he didn’t have to hold himself back physically as much during sparring or make-outs.

Not all was kosher, though. Jolting awake each night, Nagisa struggled to breathe as his nightmares morphed and changed. In them, instead of himself on the slab it was Karma or another friend. They became more frequent as Nagisa struggled to hide them from Karma.

Shaking awake yet again as he silenced his screams at the sight of Karma bleeding out in front of him, Nagisa jolted awake and looked over to the other side of his king-sized bed. Karma laid, splayed out on his stomach half-asleep with one hand on Nagisa’s heaving side. Calming his breathing and sliding to his feet and making his way out to the kitchen, Nagisa pulled down a glass and filled it with water. _He’s here. He’s safe. It’s OK._

Throwing back the water, Nagisa stared at the bedroom door. “What do I do if things go wrong? I know I can trust Karma—and all of the others—but I can’t control all the factors. I don’t…”

“Want to lose me.” Karma said, walking out as he stretched his back. “What are you doing awake?”

“Nightmares. Sorry, did I wake you?” Nagisa said, moving to stare out the window next to the dining room table.

“Sort of? I noticed the bed got colder.” Walking over, Karma sat on the counter next to Nagisa. “Wanna talk about it?”

“I… I know it’ll upset you. I just needed a few minutes to calm back down.” Nagisa said, wrapping his arms around his middle. “You can go back to sleep.”

“I’ll stay with you for a bit.” Karma said, looking outside at the night sky. “How long have you been having them?”

“Off and on during my time here. More ‘on’ lately.” Nagisa said, reaching out to Karma.

Karma took the hand, held it. “Trial stress?”

“Probably some of it, yes.” Nagisa relished the warmth of Karma’s hand on his. “More about the hit out on you.”

“It’ll be OK, Nagisa. I promise.” Karma said, tugging him back to bed. “I’m figuring it out, we’ll be OK.”

“Alright.” Nagisa exhaled hard, pushing it away. “I’m sorry about waking you up.”

“If you need me, Nagisa, just wake me up.” Karma said simply, as they climbed back into bed. “Let me be there for you.”

“That’s part of it. I feel like you’re there for me, but I can’t do anything for you.” Nagisa grumbled, pressing close. “You say not to worry, to trust you. And I do. But… I want to make sure you’re OK, too.”

Karma offered him a devilish smile. “At this point, just hearing you trust me is a win for me. And don’t worry, I will have my bad days. We just have to get there. It’ll probably happen around election time.”

Snorting, Nagisa pressed his head close. “Fine. Night.”  
“Night, Nagisa.” Karma said, pulling his partner close.

Curled up in a warm spot, Nagisa felt his mind clicking as he drifted off to sleep. _If something does go wrong, I want to experience everything._ Looking up at Karma’s face, lax once again in sleep, Nagisa felt an idea hit him. _That might work. I’ll figure out the rest tomorrow._ Closing his eyes, he fell asleep to a more restful dream.

On the day of the trial, Nagisa woke up an hour and a half early to set his plan into action. _Here we go._

Rolling over, Nagisa carefully straddled Karma as he slept. Careful to keep his balance so as not put too much weight on Karma and wake him up, Nagisa began place pecks along Karma’s cheekbone, slowly increasing the suction as he made his way across the man’s face and down to his neck where he began to apply himself to nibbling and gentle bites to where the neck of Karma’s sleep shirt sat. Reaching down, he ran his hands up Karma’s shirt and gently rubbing at the sleep-warmed skin hidden there.

“Mmmmhm?” Karma murmured, head rolling and breathing picking up as he woke up. “Nagisa? Baby, are you sure you want this?”

“Yes.” Nagisa replied, smiling as Karmas eyes opened with an amorous gaze that melted him.

“You look good on top of me.” Sliding his hand from Nagisa’s hip to gently cup the growing erection between his legs, Karma smiled at Nagisa’s hiss as he pressed into the contact. “And you feel even better, babe.”

“K…Karma…” Nagisa whined, desperately pressing closer. “Please touch me.”

“Anytime, gorgeous.” Karma said, hissing out a warm breath as he took a deep breath. “Can I take off your shirt?”

Nodding, Nagisa started to frantically reach down so rushed that he nearly toppled over as he lost his balance from rearing back.

“Easy, baby.” Karma softly held Nagisa stable. “Let me help you.” Grabbing onto the hem of the shirt, Karma pulled it off before wrapping his hands around Nagisa’s chest. “Hang on, OK?”

Confused, Nagisa did as he was asked and wrapped his arms around Karmas shoulders as Karma quickly flipped their positions so Nagisa’s back was the one pressed into the bed. Sliding one hand down Nagisa’s side to grasp his thigh and wrap said leg around his hips, Karma grinded down and enjoyed the moans his partner let out. “You may look good on top, but I love how wrecked you look under me. Begging for my touch, flushed and looking at me like I’m all you need.” Not letting Nagisa say anything, Karma slid down his partners body. Pressing his lips just above his bellybutton, Karma started to bite and nibble hard enough to get Nagisa to cry out.   
Reaching down, Nagisa gripped Karma’s hair in his hand to anchor himself. “Karma! More, please!”

“Shhh, baby. It’s OK, I’ve got you.” Karma whispered, moving down a bit to nibble on the visible hipbones above his pajama pants. Pausing, he looked up at Nagisa. “Do you mind if I take these off?”

Blushing, Nagisa nodded before glancing away nervously.

Karma saw the glance. “What’s up?”

Nagisa flushed, embarrassed at the nervousness in his gut. “I just... I… I don’t want to be the only one naked.”

Karma grinned, sitting back on his knees and pulling off his shirt. “You don’t have to be, babe.”

Breaking away for a few moments, both shucked the last of their clothing before the two took a moment to appreciate their partner for a moment.

“You are gorgeous.” Nagisa said, before blushing at how sappy he sounded.

Laughing, Karma reached out. “I was about to say the same thing about you.” Reaching out, he pulled Nagisa gently to his chest and tilted his head up while running his thumb just under the crease where Nagisa’s eye socket met his cheek. “Are you OK with continuing?”

Nagisa nodded, staring at Karma’s lips before he moved to stand on tip-toes for an invitation to kiss.

Taking the invitation, Karma kissed Nagisa deeply before backing up a bit. “I need to hear you say ‘yes’, please.”

“Yes, Karma. I want you. Please.” Nagisa begged, taking Karma’s hand and moving it down to his hips. “Please. I want you.”

“All you had to do was ask me, gorgeous. I’d have gone down on you in Brazil if you’d have let me. Screw everything else.” Karma teased, pressing a kiss to Nagisa’s forehead. “I love you; you know that?”

“Love you too, now c’mhere.” Nagisa groaned, leaning back with his full weight to try to pull Karma to the bed only to be met with Karma’s laugh as it didn’t work. “Fuck you.”

Karma leaned forward to fall forward carefully on hands and knees over Nagisa, eyes meeting with soft affection. “Not exactly the plan, but we can work it in after we’re done for the day.”

Nudging Nagisa so he was in the center of the mattress, Karma slid down his body leaving a trail of kisses down to just above Nagisa’s growing erection.

“Stop teasing, Karma!” Nagisa whined, then stiffened as Karma licked a stripe up the vein along the backside of his cock. “Karma!”

Smirking, Karma continued with his plan of licking and kissing until Nagisa was a mess as he cried out. “PLEASE.”

Grabbing the smaller man’s hips, Karma held him down as he pulled his partners cock in his mouth and began to bob up and down as he sucked as hard as he could.

_So warm…_ Nagisa moaned as Karma slowly worked his way down to the base of his cock, shuddering at the feeling of the hot, wet mouth working him.

By the time he’d realized it, he was getting close. 

Feeling himself tighten up as he hit his peak, Nagisa could barely get two syllables out. “C’m….”

Karma took it all in stride, helping his lover ride out the orgasm and swallowing before pulling off of his partner and running his tongue along his upper lip as a disgusting tease. “You’re amazing, Nagisa.” Sliding up his partners body, Karma gathered him close. “You’re gorgeous when you’re begging me for more.”

Nagisa didn’t say anything, just pressing closer as Karma’s words sent the last aftershock through his system. “Hnnmm.”

Pressing a kiss to Nagisa’s temple, Karma sat up when he heard his alarm go off. “Time to get up.”  
Blinking up, Nagisa raised an eyebrow. “What about you?”

“I don’t think we have the time right now…. besides, you need to be able to walk normally today, so I don’t think it’s time to test out your ability to move after being pounded into the mattress. Believe me, there’s a lot I want to do that we don’t have time for right now.” A glimmer of the darker side of Karma came through. “I would love to tie you to the bed and make you beg as I brought you close to the edge, only to back off. I do like it when you beg. But we can talk about that later.” Karma grinned at Nagisa’s flush before he looked at the clock and let out a sigh. “Time to get up.” 

“I want you to feel good, too.” Nagisa said, reaching to grab Karmas wrist as he slid out of bed. “Please?”

“I enjoyed watching you, Nagisa. It’s OK. We’ll get to me later. That was OK, right? You enjoyed it?” Karma asked putting a kneed down and leaning forward over Nagisa to brush aside a few stray hairs.

“That was great, except for the part where you didn’t come.” Nagisa griped, tugging on his lover down to the bed and whispered in his ear. “I want to watch you, too. I want to watch you come apart as I bring you pleasure. Please let me?”

“Are you sure? We really don’t have much time.” Karma asked, eyes looking over the flushed body and charged grin of his lover with an appreciative smile. “I don’t want you to feel obligated.”

“Ha.” Nagisa snorted, pulling Karma off the bed. “Come on.”

“I thought…?” Karma asked, following Nagisa with little resistance.

“You’re right about the time thing, so let’s get dirty and clean up at the same time.” Nagisa pulled him toward the bathroom with a wide grin. “It’ll be fun.”

“You’re adventurous your first time out.” Karma’s tone was appreciative as he reached to gently grab Nagisa’s ass. “What did you have in mind?”

“Nothing much.” Turning on the water, Nagisa placed his hand under to check the temperature. Switching it to spray, Nagisa stepped under it and held out a hand. “Join me?”

Karma took it, drooping under the warm water when it hit his skin. “Feels good.”

Saying nothing, Nagisa dropped to his knees in front of Karma. Reaching out, he took the hard member between the red-head’s leg and began to kitten-lick up the side.

Karma responded beautifully, thrusting forward a bit before he struggled to control himself. “Wait, if you need to stop, tap my thigh twice.” Taking a big step back, Karma wouldn’t get any closer until Nagisa nodded.

“OK. I understand. Now get your ass back over here.” Nagisa groaned, reaching for his partner.

Karma moved closer, carefully threading his fingers into Nagisa’s hair. “OK, bu…. ah, fuck.”   
Nagisa quickly watched as his partner nearly melted above him. Sucking with a determined enjoyment of his partner’s small aborted thrusts, Nagisa reached to gently ran a hand over his own thighs as he enjoyed the taste and feel of Karma’s pleasure. Stroking himself with one hand and using the other to tease the part of Karma’s length he couldn’t use his mouth on, he moaned around his partner as he felt a rush of pleasure hit him. Working them both carefully, Nagisa forced himself to keep his eyes open as Karma came, so he could watch the man as he cried out for him. “Nagisa!”

Swallowing, Nagisa took a deep breath as Karma backed away as soon as he was aware. Karma’s orgasm spurred his own and he came on the shower floor as the water washed away all evidence. Heavy breathing filled the room for a moment before Karma reached down to pick his partner off the floor. “You are amazing, I love you, and we’re doing that again as soon as we get home. But for now, we need to hurry.” Holding out a hand to his partner, Karma waited until he took it to pull him upright.

Laughing, Nagisa nodded and grabbed the shampoo. “OK, Ok.”

After their ten minutes was up, both were toweling off and pulling on clothes when a thought occurred to Nagisa. _I don’t have any way to defend myself if an assassin attacks._

“Alright.” Karma said, slicking back his hair with a bit of gel. “Are you ready?”

“Are you sure I can’t take my fangs with me?” Nagisa griped, running his hands over his thighs where he usually kept them sheathed.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be visibly armed at a place where you’ve being accused of first-degree murder.” Karma said, carefully styling his hair and washing away the excess. “However, we are under threat and I think it would be dumb to walk in completely empty-handed.”

Motioning Nagisa to follow, Karma walked out to the bedroom and grabbed something from under the bed. Pulling up a lock box, Karma pulled something out that was wrapped in cloth and handed it to Nagisa. “This is yours, I’m sorry I took so long to return it to you.”

Confused, Nagisa quickly unwrapped it. There, were his fangs in a pair of thin sheathes. “I thought you said…”

“It’s more dangerous for you to go without at this point. We’re expecting trouble. But put them in the inside pocket of your suit, not on your hips. We want them less visible. When we get to the courthouse, either leave them in the car or hand them over to one of the others.”

Taking them, Nagisa slid them into his pockets and felt some semblance of safety. “Alright. Let’s go?”

“Sure.” Reaching over and throwing an arm around the blue-haired man’s shoulder, Karma pulled him close to his side. Nagisa accepted the arm, before wrapping an arm around Karma’s hips.

Karma led the way, leading Nagisa to the garage. Opening the door from the house, Karma smiled down at him. “No, you can’t drive it yet.”

Nagisa raised an eyebrow, “Oh, really?”

“Nope.” Leading the ex-assassin to a gorgeous convertible in the signature red color that Nagisa always associated with him, Karma laughed as Nagisa ogling the car.

“This is gorgeous, ostentatious and stupid to drive right now!” Nagisa said, running his hand over the sleek door. “It’s like painting a target on our back and screaming ‘attack us!’”

Karma nodded, laughing a bit. “Correct, which is why we’re taking the SUV.”

“You were teasing me.” Nagisa glared, looking back at the convertible as he moved off to the SUV.

“Aww, don’t worry. I’ll let you drool over it later. Maybe even take you in the back seat and make you beg.” Karma promised, voice mean and soft.

“Jerk.” Nagisa complained as his neck and cheeks colored a bit, climbing into the SUV.

“I didn’t think you were much of a car guy.” Karma said, opening the garage and starting to back out.

“I’m not, but I learned to appreciate any car that can accelerate quickly.” Nagisa said, darker memories welling up as moments from when he’d needed to escape quickly flashed in his mind. “Sometimes the only reason I was able to survive was getting in a car fast enough to get the hell out of a situation.”

Karma’s gaze went worried. “What…”

“Not something I want to go into, Karma.” Nagisa said, looking out the window as he crossed his arms to protect himself. He let his mind wander a bit until he felt a hand rest on his thigh.

Looking over to Karma, Nagisa felt warmth as the love that poured from his lovers gaze. Uncrossing his arms, Nagisa took Karma’s hand and held tight for a second before turning on the radio and letting the music fill the car to wash away the tension that had filled the car for a moment. 

Nervously tapping his fingers along the edge of the window, Nagisa was nearly bursting at the seams as they arrived in the underground parking lot near the courthouse. “So, we’ll head up and then meet the others, right?”

“Yes. You taking your ‘fangs’ with you?” Karma asked, parking the car and turning to the other occupant. “Hey. Nagisa.”

Looking over, Nagisa met Karma’s gaze of love and concern. Pressing his hand to the outside of his suit over his knives, Nagisa took comfort in them before pulling them out. Looking over at Karma, he held them out. “It’s probably better for you to have these right now. Please, be careful.”

“Of course.” Taking the twin knives, Karma slid them into a hidden pocket in his suit, closer to his hips than where Nagisa had stored them in his suit jacket. “Promise me you’ll be careful too.”  
“You’re the one with the hit on him.” Nagisa remined him, as the group of guards led them upstairs and into a throng of reporters and protestors. Little else could be said as cameras flashed and reporters screamed out questions to both Nagisa and Karma. Upon reaching the barrier, Nagisa found himself grateful that the trial was taking place in a mostly-close court room with a few television cameras to live-stream the case as it proceeded.

Taking his place with his lawyers at the prosecution table, Nagisa felt almost all eyes land on him. Not unlike the times in Kunugigaoka when they’d been forced to march down to the main campus for the others to scorn. And just like those times, Nagisa could his other classmates there to support him. _Those we fight with._ Turning, he looked back at his adult classmates _. Those we fight against._ He glanced over the lawyers at the opposing table. Turning back to face the judge, Nagisa steeled himself. _Those on our side, and those rooting for me to go to jail. It’ll be fine. We’ll kill it just like how we killed finals._ Glancing back as a comfort, he smiled at the evil smiles his classmates wore. _You have triggered our bloodlust. That was a mistake on your part._

The trial was started quickly, and the government lawyers grilled every one of the members of Class 3-E. They all gave the same answer.

“We killed Koro-Sensei together. Because he was ready to be done. He wasn’t sure he was safe to keep alive, even with the research that came out later. And we were ordered to. By both our teacher and our government.” Rio said, ever the cool beauty with calm eyes.

Kayano agreed. “It was his wish. Nagisa was actually the one who suggested trying to save him, despite government orders. We all followed him, for as long as we could. We ran out of time when the government fired off their laser. When we all wished Koro-sensei goodbye, it was because it was us he trusted to do the job.”

Sugino spoke of Koro-Sensei’s love for the growth of his ‘young assassins.’ “He was proud of us, especially Nagisa. He would hate what has been done to one of his students in ‘his’ name. He asked us to be the ones to complete the mission because he trusted us to understand exactly what that meant, what a human life could mean.”

Okuda hit on the fact that class 3-E was the one to suffer the most. “As a scientist, I would have loved to have kept Koro-Sensei alive, but as a member of class 3-E I know it was the correct choice to give Sensei his wish. And as a student of his, while we were mostly secure, we didn’t know that from day one. We struggled, came to love our sensei, and then had to kill him. That was how our classroom worked. And it made us better.”

Memories flittered through the back of Nagisa’s head. The times when Koro-Sensei had pulled up the tulips and let them stab at him for twenty minutes or so to apologize. When he’d created a pool so they could all cool off. When he’d been there, ever present and helpful.

Biting his lip, Nagisa was surprised to hear the court called to a recess. Nagisa was asked to join the lawyers in another room to discuss terms.

The opposition were sour, angry that their attempt to pass on the blame onto their no-longer easy scapegoat. “What will it take to get you to back down so we can forget this little misstep?”

“Little misstep?” Nagisa said, rage flaring up along his neck. “I’ve been stateless for years. My government attempted to put me in jail because they did not want to own up to the fact that you’d legalize a hit using children. Actual CHILDREN.”

The young lawyer held up their hands, backing off a bit. “We made a mistake. But dragging this out and putting everyone through this can only make this worse.”

“Worse? Worse for who? I’ve been stuck without a home for four years. I’ve been without family or friends for four years. I’ve had to bounce around from place to place and always look over my shoulder. There were even attempts on my life because of the smear campaign this government leveled at me!” Nagisa’s voice rose, rage, hurt and loss pouring from him.

The lawyer sighed, nodding. “We’re aware.”

“No, I don’t think you are. You have made my life a living hell. You have caused me undue suffering because the government has chased me around the world. If I’m going to drop this, the government owes me. Several governments, in fact. But that’s neither here or there right now.”

Glaring at the young lawyer, Nagisa continued. “Part of what I want is a confession on the part of the government that they ordered Class 3-E to kill Koro-Sensei and never try to prosecute us for that act. I want the Japanese government to admit they funded a classroom of children to kill a superbeing that was so, so over powered that the government of the worlds had NO CHOICE but to allow a potentially homicidal, dangerous being into a classroom full of children because it asked them to. Now, was Koro-Sensei homicidal? No. NEVER.”

Blinking back tears at the memory of how much Koro-Sensei had done to keep them safe, Nagisa reached up to brush them away before he continued. “But the government did not know that when he showed up and actively decided that they would put children into a dangerous place. They have no right to try and pin this on us now when we did not have a choice back then. We weren’t given the option to change classrooms, and were baited into staying with stupidly insane amounts of cash that we could never have earned elsewhere.”

When the lawyer started to speak, Nagisa ran him over. “While we could have changed schools, most of us weren’t even allowed to tell our parents! And without a good reason, most parents would have not allowed us to change. This was a travesty—one I can recognize now. That whole ‘we agreed under the condition that none of you would be harmed’ bit we were told at the start was bull. We were trapped in that classroom. And there were potential problems that came up. Assassins trapping us to get to Koro-sensei, poisonings, a few of us being near fatally injured! The government is FUCKING LUCKY that Kayano was not killed by the sociopathic researcher that attacked us multiple times with governmental assistance! Same with Itona!”

Feeling a bit lightheaded, Nagisa turned away to take several deep breaths to regain his calm. “I am willing to drop this case if conditions are met, but I need time to consider those conditions. If you are willing to give me a few days, I will hammer out conditions with my lawyers. If I am not satisfied, we can continue this façade until I win and the government is obligated to give me what I ask for.” Moving to the door that lead back to the courtroom and moving back in, Nagisa made his way back to the prosecution table and kept having to remind himself to breath as waves of anger over having four years of his life stolen from him called ‘a little mishap.’

When the recess ended, the court reconvened to only be let out in order to allow more time. As court let out, Nagisa immediately steered to Karma and grabbed him to pull him into a hug.

“What happened?” Karma demanded, holding Nagisa tight as shudders wracked his body.

“‘A little misstep’” Nagisa said, anger pouring from him. “That’s what they called ALL of this. A little misstep.”

Karma tightened his arms around Nagisa. “I have my wasabi. Want me to make them scream?”

“No.” Nagisa looked up, dangerous smile fixed on his face which startled Karma. “I want you to help me come up with conditions that will HURT them to give into them. I trust your sadistic nature.”

The devils grin that Karma game him made some of the enclosed rage dissipate. Walking out with his lover in his arms, Nagisa held tight so he wouldn’t be tempted to go homicidal as he saw the lawyers leaving. 

So wrapped up in his anger, Nagisa almost didn’t see the attack coming. One second, he’d been wrapped around a supportive and loving partner, the next his instincts pushed Karma out of the way and himself back to avoid the fast swing of a bowie knife as a loud bang echoed in the air. Reacting quickly, Nagisa grabbed the wrist and lashed out with a kick to knock the attacker off their feet and onto the stone steps. Not giving his attacker the chance to lash out again, Nagisa quickly slammed the person’s skull into the marble steps, knocking them unconscious. Securing the man’s arms by using some rip cord he found in the man’s belt, Nagisa took a deep breath. Looking up, Nagisa was greeted with a horror he’d never felt.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone.
> 
> I may or may not be updating twice today, as I potentially have jury duty on the next upload day. If I do, needless to say I'm not taking my laptop with me to the courthouse. 
> 
> Anywho, if you're enjoying this work and you haven't' checked out A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle, you're missing out. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114
> 
> Go check it out if you haven't!

Karma laid on the steps, already pale, blood pouring from a wound to his midsection. Feeling as if he were moving in slow motion, Nagisa made his way to Karma and started to press on the wound as other scrambled to assist. Hands unsteady, Nagisa shook as he watched Karma pale. _No, please, no!  
_ Feeling someone gently move him out of the way, Nagisa started to lash out until he remembered that he couldn’t. Looking up, he found the government’s lawyer kneeling down, applying steady pressure with her coat. “I can help, and you’re too deeply involved. Are you OK? Were you injured?”

As he shook his head, all of his nightmares of the ones where Karma was bleeding out flashed in his mind’s eye. Nagisa crawled over to Karma’s other side. “Hey, you in there?”

Karma turned his head slowly. “Pr’mised me. Don’t go.” Karma’s eyes started to slide shut as his body went lax.

In all of his nightmares, Nagisa hadn’t imagined how it would feel to have Karma’s pulse slow under his hand.

“Karma! Karma, no, stay awake." Nagisa begged, moving his hand over Karma’s face.

“He’s losing a lot of blood.” The lawyer said, looking up at Nagisa. “We need to do something.”

Nagisa tried to figure out what he could do, but his minds could only turn circles. “Why are you helping me?”

“Just because I’m prosecuting you does not mean I don’t know that you’re human. I also wouldn’t leave someone to bleed because they’re on the opposite side of a case from me.” The woman snapped, keeping pressure steady. “Now…” Looking up, the woman singled out a person. “You. Bowler hat. Call an ambulance.”

The time it took the ambulance to arrive—five minutes in total—were some of the longest, hardest ones he’d ever had to endure. While he was waiting, the downed assassin was pulled away into a police car and taken away. Watching him being taken away, Nagisa felt some relief. _He’ll be out of the way, at least._

Within the next hour, Nagisa found himself seated in the waiting room of the hospital with Kayano clutching one hand and Sugino holding him on the other side as they waited for news. Half of class 3-E waited with him, as well as Professor Bitch.

“Nagisa?” Kayano asked, gently reaching up to gently brush aside Nagisa’s bangs. “Have you eaten anything since the trial?”

Mutely shaking his head, Nagisa kept his gaze on the door. _Please, tell me he’s alive. That he’s going to make it._

While the universe had—for the past four years—ignored his prayers, this time the moment he asked the doctor walked in. “I’m looking for the family of Karma Akabane?”

Nagisa launched to his feet. “I’m his partner, Nagisa Shiota. What’s going on?”

The doctors face morphed for a split second into one of disgust that no one but a trained assassin could spot before smoothing back out. “His parents?”

_Fuck if I know._ “Are working halfway across the world. I’m here for him.” Nagisa blatantly lied. “What is going on?” Letting his assassins glare speak for him, Nagisa mentally prepared to go full Coral Snake if the man didn’t answer his questions.

“He’s out of surgery and in recovery. He’s lucky to be as OK as he is, as the bullet hit his liver and kidney. We’ll have to see how he heals.” The man capitulated at the glare Nagisa gave him.

Taking a deep breath and reverting to his ‘society acceptable’ smile, Nagisa asked “When can I see him?”

“I’ll have a nurse take you to him when he’s settled.” The doctor said, offering a fake smile that didn’t reach his eyes as he turned to leave. “Have a good night, sir.”

Slumping a bit, Nagisa pasted on a smile before turning to everyone else. “Well, good news?”

Professor Bitch was the first to move forward. “Are you OK?”

“I am now.” Nagisa said, stumbling to the open chair he’d vacated and dropping back down. “It’s OK, it might have been my fault but he’s OK.”

Everyone’s attention snapped to him. “Your fault?” Terasaka demanded. “How in the hell does this fall to you?”

“Because of the hit they put out on Karma?” Nagisa asked, confused to see the confusion directed his way. “Wait, don’t tell me he didn’t…”

“There was a hit put on Karma?” Takebayashi asked, adjusting his glasses. “Why didn’t he tell us?”

Nagisa felt a cold rush of disbelief. “He didn’t tell you? He said he would ask you to be on alert!”

“No, he didn’t tell us. But he had warned us to keep our heads up.” Kataoka said, calm in the storm. “Why was a hit put out?”

Bitter resentment bit into him. “Because I left my old ‘company’ they put a hit on him as a punishment. While there may also be one on me, we’re not sure. I was just told about the one on him.”

Nakamura blanched. “Your old company is after you?”

“Yes.” Nagisa confirmed, putting his head in his hands. “I thought he’d told you.” _Karma, you overconfident, reckless moron! You asked me to trust you and you pulled this shit?_

“Well, it doesn’t surprise me. Karma, he played this one close to the chest.” Nakamura said, looking at Nagisa with a questioning look. Raising an eyebrow, he tilted his head as confusion riled over him. _What?_

Motioning him to come over, Nakamura whispered to him. “We haven’t told everyone the complete truth about what you were doing. We said you were working with other assassins as support, but never that you’d completed hits on your own.”

Surprise and gratitude filled Nagisa. “I…thank you. I appreciate it.” Straightening, Nagisa sighed. “This isn’t something I want to talk about in public, but to suffice. Just as Lovro, Smog, Grip and the Reaper—both the original and 2.0—I had a call sign. Coral Snake.”

The collective shocked inhale from almost everyone except Nakamura and the teachers hit Nagisa as he struggled under the weight of it. “And they’re not happy to lose their reaper-trained worker. So, they’re trying to punish me.”

Feeling the tension thicken before someone spoke up, Nagisa struggled until Isogai spoke. “Alright. Now we know, we can get over it. Everyone? It does not matter. He did what he had to. Are we in agreeance?”

Slowly, voices spoke their assent. “Yes.” “Yeah.” “Doesn’t bother me.” “Don’t care.” “Missed the runt. That’s what matters.”

“Good.” Kataoka spoke, voice commanding. “Now, we don’t mention this in public again. Nagisa, why did they call a pause in the trial?”

Laying out everything that had happened, Nagisa sighed. “I’m torn, mostly because I want this to be over. If I could secure a few things, I would drop the case and never speak of it again. But I need to know those things will be respected.” Grumbling, Nagisa felt his stomach audibly rumble. “Sorry, I haven’t eaten anything yet.”

Hara spoke up. “Well, that’s not good. I’m going to get food. Anyone want to come with me?”

Yoshida nodded. “I can help you out.”

The two left with orders, and Nagisa glanced toward the door again. _When is that nurse going to come and grab me?_

Again, the heavens granted his wish as a young woman walked in. “Shiota Nagisa?”

Walking over with a wave, Nagisa nodded to the others. “I’ll check in on him and then we can plan more.”

The group smiled at him, with Professor Bitch taking charge. “Let’s plan to meet up later, I’m sure Nagisa is tired. We’ll agree to meet up at Karma’s house at some time around…”

With the distance away from the others, Nagisa felt a cold tickle down his back. Glancing at the nurse he hadn’t paid much attention to, Nagisa recognized the shape of her. Grabbing her wrist, Nagisa snarled. “Lioness.” _Assassins as a lot may be cowards, but be careful with the Lioness. She rules her savannah with fang and claw._

“So, you did recognize me.” The blonde woman smiled. “I was wondering, Mr. snake.”

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.” Nagisa hissed, enraged. “Did you do anything to Karma?”

“No.” The short answer surprised Nagisa. “I owed you. I shot in a non-fatal spot. But, Mr. slithery, you need to worry. The company is pissed. Everyone at the top is after you. All the other assassins, though, they’re on your side. I’ve been given a month and half on the outside to complete the hit, and after that they’ll send someone else. Clock’s ticking, Snake.” Lionesses’ green eyes turned toward him. “If you need help, ask. We all owe you for doing Takaoka in. Damn bastard tried to kill enough of us.”

Nagisa nearly broke at the reference to his first victim. “Damn bastard did it to my class, too.”

“Well, then, we’ll get along well. I can be your way in. Just let me now. For now, let me take you to your boyfriend.” Lionesses playful smiled had Nagisa rearing back.

“I was unaware you were a medical expert.” Nagisa probed, looking over Lioness with a critical eye. _Is she actually trained or is this a role to her?_

“Best not to put all your cards on the table. Besides, we all learn to treat some basic stuff in the field. I’ve been studying for my medical license over the last year. I was ready to be done with death.” Lioness smiled, feline pleasure at having almost gotten things done present. “I’ll be around for the next few days.”

“Got it.” Nagisa nodded. “Do you have a cover name for this?”

“Yep. I’m Mary Washington.” Smiling, the woman led Nagisa to Karma’s room, where he spotted a police guard. “He’s settled and sleeping comfortably.”

Backing off, the lioness slunk back off to her savannah. Walking into the room past the guard, Nagisa saw Karma’s bright hair against sterile white sheets. _He might need more protection._ Walking over and checking Karma’s pulse, Nagisa felt some vise release when it felt like a normal sleeping pulse. “You shit. Don’t scare me like this again, OK?”

Hearing no response, Nagisa looked around the room to scan for potential threats. _Maybe I should see if Karma can be moved to home care because of increased threat to himself. There are too many ways for him to be killed here. Sepsis, IV insertion of several thousands of poisons, sodium intake, everything._

Sitting down at Karma’s bedside, Nagisa took the red-head’s hand in his. “I love you, Karma.” He whispered to his sleeping partner. “Please stay alive. I still need you.”

Holding onto Karma’s hand for a few moments, Nagisa sighed and placed it back on the bed. “I’ll keep you safe, I promise.”

Walking out of the room, Nagisa saw Professor Bitch headed his way. “Are you doing OK?”

Nagisa turned his hand from side-to-side. “Not really. I’m worried about attempts on his life while he’s here.”

Professor Bitch nodded, before holding out a small package. “Hara brought food back, and you’re wise to worry. Those darn second blades always pop up at the worst moment. There’s likely a second plan for getting to Karma.”

“I don’t know if I can get him moved to home care. Or if I can hire a private nurse for him. I don’t know.” Nagisa admitted, looking back. “But I know the person who took the shot.”

Professor Bitch blinked. “Wait, what?”

“A, um, former coworker.” Nagisa answered, glancing around to see if he could point her out to Professor Bitch. “Goes by Lioness. Told me she’d missed anything vital on purpose out of respect for me.”

Professor Bitch snorted; eyes wide with a bit of mirth to temper her worries. “You’re just the most charismatic person, aren’t you Nagisa?”

“I don’t know how, but apparently yes.” Nagisa said grumbling. “She’s said she’s willing to help me get back into the company. And I think that might really be helpful.”

Sighing, Professor Bitch narrowed her gaze. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I will, tonight. You and the others agreed to meet, right?” Nagisa asked, watching her face fold into an angry frown.

“I will not leave you until I know you’re not going to be stupid.” Professor Bitch said, grabbing Nagisa’s wrist. “Look me in the eyes and promise me you will not run off to take this on on your own.”

“I won’t. I actually was hoping to talk to you. Would you mind giving me a ride back to Karma’s so we can talk?”

Professor Bitch nodded, smiling as she was happy to be trusted. “Of course not. Are you wanting to stick around for a little bit?”

“No,” Nagisa flashed a regretful look back to Karma’s room. _He’ll understand once I get everything done._ “I need to plan. And I need your opinion on a few things. Questions I think only you could answer.” Nagisa said, looking back to Karma’s room. “But I don’t know what to do with this problem. How do I protect him when I need to go elsewhere?”

Kanzaki spoke from Professor Bitch. “You ask someone else to help.”

Nagisa offered a welcoming half-smile. “I didn’t know if you would have the time to take off for this.”

“I’m a registered nurse. I’ll be working with a high-profile patient.” Kanzaki offer her signature soft, kind expression. “I’ll take care of him. You take care of the rest of the stuff.”

Nodding, Nagisa reached for Kanzaki’s hand. “Remind me that I need to buy you more flowers when I get back, Ms. Sunshine.”

Kanzaki let out her signature chuckle, nodding. “I’ll never be upset about flowers. Or sweets.”

Nagisa took the obvious hint with a grin. “Understood.”

As Kanzaki joined Karma in his hospital room, both Nagisa and Professor Bitch made their silent way to Professor Bitch’s car.

After picking up Augri from her babysitter, Professor Bitch drove the two of them back to the house quietly. The two used the time to decompress from the trauma of the morning.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NO JURY DUTY FOR ME!! :-D Here's an extra chapter because I'm so happy!
> 
> (Kinda funny, I didn't even notice that my potential jury duty fell around the same time as the court scenes in my story.) 
> 
> If you haven't checked out A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle, you're missing out! It inspired this work and is so, so good. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Reaching the house, Nagisa carefully scanned for any signs of anyone having come into the house. When his instincts read nothing amiss, Nagisa relaxed a bit. “OK. I have a plan, but I need your opinion on the potential of amnesty.”

Professor Bitch blinked, reaching up to run a hand through her hair. “I mean, if you can gain it not just from Japan but from the world, I’d say that’d be ideal. Why?”

“When they called a recess, they asked me what it would take for me to drop the trial. They’ve seen that they’re going to lose. I told them that I would consider dropping the case, if they agreed to my terms. I was going to have Karma help me with the conditions to make them sadistic, but then everything else happened. So, I could use your proven personality for some suggestions.”

Professor Bitch grinned, joyfully imaging what Nagisa could ask for. “Oh, I am there. Let’s make those assholes pay.”

“OK, so the basic requirements I was think of were something along these lines: One, Charges against me are DROPPED; two, our government admits to authorizing hit and using children; three, they does not prosecute anyone else from 3-E for Koro-Sensei’s death, by any of the governments involved; four, no one from 3-E—teachers or student alike—are prosecuted for breaking their gag orders by any government, nor are we subjected to any memory wipes.”

Grabbing a drink from the fridge, he opened it as he continued. “Five, I gains amnesty for any actions during the past 4 years; six, my slash our legal fees are paid by the gov; seven, the reward money given to the class is not void and the Class 3-E is not required to pay back what they’d taken in order to secure their silence on the matter; eight, I am is gifted reparations for the past four years; nine, I am allowed to maintain or keep property under any of my aliases; ten, I am allowed to apply for dual citizenship if I want it; eleven, I get help with my upcoming plan.” Nagisa laid out the basics, watching Professor Bitch as she considered.

“That’s a good start.” Her wide eyes narrowed with an evil grin. “But let’s make them pay hard for the reparations. And what’s the ‘upcoming plan?’”

“Something I’m working on. Mind helping me come up with a number for reparations?” Nagisa asked, smiling as he nudged her with his shoulder.  
“Of course not.” Professor Bitch pulled out her phone. “Let’s make them pay.”

The next few hours were spent as the two worked through conditions and Nagisa’s plan for what to do with his company. “Think it’ll work?” Nagisa asked, as he held Augri in his arms as the two scavenged from the kitchen.   
“It’s going to be wonderful.” Professor Bitch answered, confidence on full display. “We’ll need to secure the help first, but after that we should have a solid plan. It’s simple, it’s direct and it would put you in good standing with the government.” 

The warmth and familiar presence of Professor Bitch caused Nagisa to shiver a bit.

“You OK, kiddo?” Professor Bitch asked, reaching out to jokingly poke Nagisa.

“I. Thank you for everything you’ve done, Irina. I know it wasn’t easy on you.” Nagisa caught the shocked expression and laughed. “I know, I know.”

“You don’t owe me a single thanks, Nagisa. Karasuma and I consider your class as part of our family. We’re proud of all of you, even if you were always a bit of a show off.” Reaching around to hold him gently in a hug, she smiled. “I am proud of you, of how you’ve grown. And how you’ve come back to yourself.”

“I think you owe Augri on that one.” Nagisa admitted, shifting the tiny body a bit at the mention. “She… she reminded me.”

“Of what?” Professor Bitch asked, confused.

“Her trust of me. I wanted to be worth it. She’s so small and innocent. I want to be worthy of her care. Just like I want to be worth caring about by my friends and family.” A thought occurred to Nagisa. “Wait, I haven’t contacted my mom yet.”

Professor Bitch turned; glare sharp. “What?”

“Karma asked me not to contact her until we knew it was safe for her. Given that she’s not an assassin, I was scared for her safety.” Nagisa explained, and shrunk under Professor Bitch’s glare.

“Are you shitting me?” She snarled, reaching out to shake him a bit. “She’s thought you were DEAD for years and she learns about you through the TV?”

Nagisa winced at the description, trying to imagine how bad it was for her. “I just don’t want her to die to see me.”

“That’s a mother’s prerogative, you little jerk. Call her.” Professor Bitch insisted, reaching out to take her daughter from the young ex-assassin.

“I will?” Nagisa said, looking down so as not to anger the avenging angel.

“Good. I’m going to put Augri down for a nap in the room downstairs with a monitor so she won’t be disturbed later.” Stalking off, Professor Bitch turned back to glare. “Call her. Now.”

Picking up his phone, Nagisa quickly scrolled to his mom’s contact before laughing a bit. W _hy do they even still have a landline? Wait, maybe it’s to their safe house?_

Glancing at the clock on his phone, Nagisa decided to simply call the landline.

As the phone rang, Nagisa started to pace. _What do I say?_

When a tearful, trembling voice picked up, Nagisa felt his stomach drop out. “Hello?” The voice of his father.

“Dad?” Nagisa answered, only to be assailed with a failing voice as he struggled around the emotional lump.

“Nagisa? You’re really alive?” His father asked, voice trembling. “We thought…”

Nagisa let out a shaky laugh, tears trailing down his face. “That I was gone? I’m sorry, Dad. I’m OK.”

His father broke on the end of the line, to the point where he couldn’t talk. Hearing his father move around his apartment, Nagisa waited. Hearing his father struggle and try to explain to a depressed voice, Nagisa knew his mom wasn’t going to believe his dad.

The woman’s sharp anger came through when she spoke into the phone. “Who are you and how dare you impersonate my son?” She screamed, anger and loss pouring across the line.

“When you asked me to leave class 3-E back in middle school, you drove me to the mountain campus in the middle of the night. You asked me to burn it down, so I would force the main campus to accept us back, and get me back to a higher class.” Nagisa said, thinking back on it fondly. “We were attacked and you passed out. After we got home, I cooked breakfast the next morning. It’s me, mom.”

Silence came over the line as Nagisa listened to his mom start to stutter as she processed. “I… Nagi…dead? No…I thought…” _God, mom, I’m sorry._ His mother’s voice was full of wonder. “Where are you?”

“At the moment, a safe place.” Nagisa answered, pulling the phone away from his ear when his mother’s scream nearly deafened him.  
“I didn’t ask that, I asked where you are. I need to see you. I need…” Breaking down, his mother sobbed into the phone. “I need to see you, baby. I thought I’d lost you for good, and I couldn’t handle it. Once I got into therapy, my therapist broke down what I’d done to you, laid it out how awful I was to you. And I… I couldn’t take it back or even take responsibility for it. I couldn’t tell you that I love you, that I didn’t care you weren’t a girl. I’m so sorry, Nagisa, I’m sorry.” Hearing words that he’d never thought his mother would ever deem to say, Nagisa sunk to the kitchen floor with the validation he’s been seeking for years from his mother. Nagisa clutched the phone to his ear. “You… You mean that?’

“Yes. Yes, Nagisa. I am so sorry. I was so wrong. And I’m proud of you for growing despite my lack of any kindness to you because I couldn’t see past my short-sighted stupidity. Please, is it safe for you to meet up with us? Somewhere?” His mother begged, contrition crawling through her words.

Taking a deep, stuttering breath, Nagisa shook his head. “Not yet, mom. It’s not safe right now. I have a bounty on my head and I do not want it to spill over to you. I love you, and I will see you as soon as I know it’s safe.”

He could hear his mother choke off her crying. “OK. If you’re not safe, I don’t want you to risk getting hurt to come see me. But… can you talk to me? Tell me what happened? I don’t understand why everyone was against you.”

Nagisa let out a watery laugh. “You and me both, mom.” Over the next few hours, Nagisa laid out everything that had happened during middle school, what Koro-Sensei was, and why the world had turned on him as it did as he sat on the ground next to the kitchen counter. Professor Bitch had apparently joined her daughter for a nap as she didn’t come back upstairs. He explained exactly how much he’d suffered throughout his exile from all countries, how he’d been hurt at others hands. He left out no detail, explaining that he’d more or less been forced to become an assassin. When he closed his story with the latest updates, he took a deep breath before asking. “Do you still want me to come see you? I can understand if you’re afraid or scared to have an assassin anywhere near you.”

His mother’s voice came through, vehemently. “I love you Nagisa. I don’t care about anything else; I just want to see you. Please say you’ll come.”

Feeling relief at being accepted, scars and blood and all, Nagisa cried. “Yes, mama. I’ll see you as soon as I can.”

“OK. Ok, baby boy. I will save the date you give me, or take off as soon as you call. I love you; your dad loves you.” Hearing his dad’s choked ‘I love you, Nagisa’ caused more tears to spill as his mom continued to talk. “We will be there for you. We love you. Stay safe, Nagisa. Please.”

“I will. I will.” He promised, watery. “I love you, too.”

Hearing Professor Bitch walking back up the stairs, Nagisa stuttered out a breath. “I need to go. I want to make it so I can see you soon. I love you.”

Desperate goodbyes and ‘I love you’ s came through the phone as Nagisa pressed ‘end call’ before promptly sliding all the way to the floor in a giant puddle of tears and emotional exhaustion.

Professor Bitch knelt down next to him. “Are you OK?”

“No. I just went through years of trauma with my mom and dad and dealt with all of it. I’m tired. Emotions suck.” Nagisa answered honestly, too drained to say anything but the straight truth.

“Well, you have two hours before everyone else gets here. Go take a nap.” Professor Bitch offered him a hand. “You little wimp.”

Laughing, Nagisa nodded as he took it. “Gotcha, Bitch.”

“Ah, the moniker that will haunt me forever.” She rolled her eyes as she tugged Nagisa to his feet. “Go.”

Taking her advice, Nagisa put one foot in front of the other until he reached Karma’s room, and the comforting scent of Karma on every inch. Grabbing his phone from his pocket, Nagisa sent one last text to the unknown number.

If I could request the presence tonight, that would help. Fuck the company, they’re going to pay. 

Pulling Karma’s pillow to his chest, Nagisa pressed his cheek to it and promptly passed the hell out.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone.
> 
> If you haven't checked out A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle, you're missing out! Here's the link. https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Three hours later, Nagisa roused a bit at the sound of a door opening. Sitting up, he groaned. “I slept past when people are getting here, didn’t I?”

“You had reason.” Karasuma said, from the doorway. “Come on out. Irina has already explained everything to the others. Ambitious plan, Nagisa. It’ll be a good way to get yourself back into the good graces of everyone. One question, though. Why do you think the other assassins will back you?”

“Because my first kill was Takaoka, whom everyone hated at the agency. He brutally broke in newbies, and he was not anywhere near as kind as he had been to military members. Given that he had no oversight, his sadistic side came out. When I killed him, the other assassins accepted me. And my company has screwed over so many of them with bullshit like little to no help for when they were injured or hurt. I often ended up helping sew others up after battles or fights alongside Smog. As such, most of them like me.” Nagisa answered, cringing as he waited for Karasuma to snap at him.

“Huh. So that’s what happened to the bastard.” Karasuma shrugged. “I was just glad he was gone. I can’t say I’m surprised he went to the underworld. He killed any chance of legal work with what he pulled on the island.” 

Blinking at the lack of reprisal, Nagisa reared back. “No anger over your old friend?”

Karasuma snorted. “Hardly. Now, let’s go. The others are all waiting for you.”

Walking out, Nagisa struggled with the idea that Karasuma had literal no attachment to someone who’d always claimed to be close to him as he walked back to the big dining room. There, everyone gathered, except for Kanzaki and Karma, with the same bloodlust permeating the air that Nagisa felt in his body.

“I understand that many of you worked hard to bring me back home.” Nagisa said, scanning the room. “And I owe you all for that. But I want you to know exactly what this company will do. They will likely threaten you. And I find that unacceptable. So, in order to keep all of you safe, I need your blessing to do this one last mission. I will come home after it is done, once I know that you all will be safe. I am willing to use a temporary tracker if you will agree.” Nagisa said, making eye contact with each of his classmates.

Isogai was—unsurprisingly—the one to speak up. “Nagisa, we don’t want you to go into this alone.”

“I wouldn’t be. I would have Ritsu, and I would have backup in the other assassins in the agency. I’ve been told that I would be backed up.” Nagisa answered.

“Can you really trust the person who told you that? What if it’s a trap?” Kimura asked.

“I don’t think it is.” Nagisa explained, surprised when he heard a knock on the door. Everyone tensed up. Nagisa reached for his fangs, before realizing that Karma had them still. _I need to get those back from him later._

Consciously relaxing his body to show that it wasn’t a threat, Nagisa watched as the door slowly creaked open.

In strolled Lioness, with her hands held high. “No need to shoot. I’m a friend.”

“Aren’t you the nurse from earlier?” Fuwa asked, glaring.

“Sort of. My code name is Lioness, but as of now my name is Mary Washington. I’m an assassin from Coral’s company. I’m the one who offered to help him get in.” Lioness said, with a feral grin. “And to prove I’m not dangerous, I came here tonight. Mr. Snake over here asked me to prove I wasn’t a threat by coming unarmed into a room of Reapers’ protégés. So here I am.”

Isogai was the first to stand. “You’ll have to forgive me if I pat you down to make sure you’re not carrying anything.”

“Of course.” Standing still, Lioness allowed Isogai to check her for weapons.

Stepping back, Isogai held out his hand after confirming the presence of no weapons. “My apologize. My name is Yuma Isogai, and I am the class rep for Class 3-E.”

Lioness offered a more relaxed feline smile. “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

“How do you plan to get Nagisa in?” Okuda asked, eyes wide.

“Nagisa, huh?” Lioness offered him a grin. “Nice to finally know your name, Mr. Snake.”

Sighing with agitation, Nagisa nodded. “Nagisa Shiota. How do you plan on getting me back in?”

“Well, we present it as if your friend has passed, and say that you were the one to complete the hit. As far as the company knows, it was just your red-headed boyfriend and the blonde over there who know who you are and captured you. We say you were protecting the company and that you were also eliminating any potential risks. We take Ms. Proper blondie with us and say we’re here to finishing the job. Does that jive with the rest of the plan you’ve made?” Lioness asked, maintain a careful distance from the others.

Looking to Nakamura, Nagisa asked. “Are you OK coming along for the ride?”

Nakamura nodded, but there was a tinge of apprehension to her gaze. “Sign me the hell up, but would you mind helping me train a bit?”

“Of course.” Nagisa offered a sincere grin. “You are the best.”

“Don’t think I’ll let you forget that later, Nagisa.” Nakamura purred, as she leaned down onto her elbows. “How does this work for your plan, Nagisa?”

“We contact the government with my request to drop the case. They agree, and take us up on them. They’re really not in a position to bargain right now. The public has turned against them and they need an out. If they agree to my demands and help us, I will let them take credit for taking down a black-market assassination company with no further complaints on my behalf. They get to take the credit and I don’t have to watch over my back as much.” Nagisa grinned. “At least, not with the assassins from my company. Most of the men and women at my company were freelancers, but the company tended to breath down everyone neck to pull in enough cash. They were also pretty harsh about how much they took of the cut.”

Nagisa rolled his head to look at Lioness. “How much did they dock you, anyway?”

“Somewhere between thirty and thirty-five. You?” Lioness answered, eyes curious.

“Thirty-five to forty percent, usually.” Nagisa grumbled.

“Ouch. They got you good in negotiations, didn’t they?” Lioness laughed.

“Thank you very much for the reminder.” Nagisa said, before turning and looking over to Karasuma. “I would ask you to be at the head of the government taskforce to break the company.”

“Consider it done.” Karasuma grinned. “Under an alias, of course.”

“Of course.” Nagisa nodded. “So, we break in with Lionesses help. We have Ritsu hack all of the files. If that’s OK, Ritsu?”

Nagisa said, glancing as the familiar icon popped up on screen.

“I’m onboard, Nagisa. Just tell me when!” Ritsu grinned, bouncing excitedly around the screen.

Smiling, Nagisa turned back to the others. “My company was never big on paper, so they’ll be easier for her to access. She gets the files to the government; the government follows behind us and takes in the heads and middle management. The other assassins will know what’s up and bail before everything happens.”

Lioness nodded. “We’ve already started to take jobs that would be easy enough to excuse the majority of us. Others who just got back are granted a few days of leniency before the pressure kicks back on.”

Nodding, Nagisa turned. “Sound good?”

“Simplistic enough to be doable, Mr. Shiota.” Bitch-sensei smiled.

“What about me?” Nakamura asked, standing. “I want to do more than be a damsel in distress.”

“Would you mind getting Ristu into the system? We could arrange it so that one of the other assassins takes you away, and have you deliver her program to the system.”

Flashing a double thumbs up, Nakamura nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Ritsu? Any objections to the plan?” Nagisa asked, pulling out his phone.

“Nope! You can count me in. It’ll be fun to wreak havoc on a closed computer system.” Ritsu said, sunny smile lighting up.

The rest of the night was figuring out logistics, and contacting lawyers. At the end of the night, everyone else had left in groups for safety, which left Nagisa to rattle around in an empty house.

After figuring out how to re-set the security system, Nagisa made a fast sweep of the house and them made his way back to the master bedroom to fall asleep again cuddling Karma’s pillow.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo........................ See the notes at the end for a surprise. 
> 
> Also, If you haven't checked out A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle, please do so! It's so good. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

The next two weeks were a hell of their own as Nagisa and his lawyers hammered out his demands in writing, including amnesty for all previous actions taken on his part from all governments who’d had him listed as ‘wanted’ as well as a timeline for them to pay the reparations, and submitted them to the government. The government had caved at the idea of getting to take credit for taking down an international and shady organization, agreeing quickly to Nagisa’s other terms with little fight. Perpetrations were made and Nagisa helped Nakamura brush up on her skills with every spare second he had.

Throughout the two weeks, Nagisa found himself thinking of Karma and how he’d react to all that was going on but couldn’t bring himself to go see Karma before he knew if his plan would work. _He’ll understand. He’s been asleep most of this time._

Given the circumstances, Karma had been asleep most of the past two weeks while he’d healed. His system had been so depleted due to stress from the work he’d been doing that Kayano had actually said that the bullet wound might have been a semi blessing in disguise.

“He’d nearly eaten through his stomach lining. It’s impressive, I had no idea it was even possible for Karma to be that stressed or that he could hide the symptoms as well as he did.” Kayano’s gentle voice had said one of the few times Nagisa had called.

“Yikes. Thank you for helping him. Let him know I called when he gets back from the test, please.” Nagisa said, before turning back to his training. The few times Karma’d been awake, he’d been in tests to make sure there wasn’t any damages the doctors had yet to correct—white blood cell counts for infection, platelet numbers to make sure he was producing the correct amount of blood, and x-rays to make sure the bullet hadn’t fragmented.

_I’ll apologize when I see him, for staying away so long. I want Nakamura to be ready so we both come home. He needs her, too. Their friendship is vital for them. I will support him, and her. And I’ll make sure she comes home._

Quietly making his way to the airport with Lioness and Nakamura, he stared out of the car window. “Lioness?”

“Hmm?” She asked, looking over from where she was driving with a stoic expression.

“Thank you, for this.” Nagisa said, simply.

“No problem, Mr. Snake. I’m just glad I had someone trustworthy to help patch up my wounds for the last few years.” She smiled. “But I’m also glad that I’ll be able to leave this job soon, so don’t think I’m doing this purely for your sake.”

Nagisa nodded. “I understand.”

“I have to say, though, I’m surprised you ran when you did.” Lioness answered. “If, after this is all done, you don’t mind contact with a few assassins I know a few who want to hear the whole story.”

Letting out a non-committal “hm’ Nagisa turned back to Nakamura. “You doing OK?”

“Yes.” Nakamura answered, fingering the bracelets that were supposedly able to blow up with the push of a button and concealed her flash drive with Ritsu’s code. “Let’s do this.”

With help from the government, Lioness and Nagisa were able to make it appear as if Nakamura was being held against her will the two supposed assassins got her through the airport and onto a private jet they’d chartered with Lioness’s company card.

Arriving, the two were met with a limousine and a “Welcome back, agents. We have a few questions.”

Taking the three travelers, the limousine pulled up to the non-descript gray building in the middle of a business district. Letting the three out at the front door, they were promptly taken into the building by hulking bruisers who grabbed onto the bracelets around Nakamura first before pulling all of them up into the bosses’ office.

“Coral Snake. It’s about time you checked in. We’d thought you deserted us.” The man said, with little preamble. “What were you doing?”

Coral Snake spoke, voice chilled and robotic. “I was taking care of my injuries and a threat to our company. I was the one to arrange for Akabane to be shot, and for a nurse to later poison him when he wasn’t killed by the initial attack. Nakamura,” Nagisa said, tugging on her to pull her forward, “is the only other person to know of me and my existence. I questioned her, extensively for days before to make sure. I brought her back here to finish the job where it wouldn’t be as suspicious.”

“Why not kill her there?” The boss asked, suspicious as he leaned over his desk.

“Two of my classmates die under mysterious circumstances? Despite the skills they’d been trained to have? It would have pointed to someone else in the classroom, possibly leading someone to identify me. Too much of a risk.” Coral snake hissed, curling up in outrage. “I figured having someone else here finish her off—with a preferably different method—would make it easier on everyone.”

The boss nodded, though obviously not convinced. “Lioness? Was this necessary?”

“Completely.” Lioness purred, reaching out to pull Nakamura to her side in a mock-friendly embrace. “Besides, why risk the chance?”

Placated, the boss nodded. “I can have someone come up to take her away. One moment.”

Nagisa, Lioness and Nakamura waited as the boss called up a man. Lioness and Nagisa stood off to one side, while Nakamura was ordered to the other. Playing her part to a T, Nakamura started to beg.

“Please, I’ll do anything. I can provide cover in my countries. I work in England and have connections in Japan. I can be useful.” Nakamura pleaded as the door opened.

“My apologies, my dear, but you’ve been out of the assassination game too long to be of any real use to us.” The boss said. “It was lovely to meet you, but now you need to go.”

As Smog walked in and led Nakamura away, Nagisa had to fight the instinct to break character and help his friend. “Sir, I have some questions for you about how you want me to handle anything like this from here on out. You were obviously displeased when I vanished.”

The boss turned to Nagisa. “Damn right, you snake. You risked everything, but I understand it now.”

Railing against Nagisa for a few moments, both Lioness and Nagisa didn’t move a muscle as the man ranted. “And it was reckless of you to go to Japan. You’re well known and if you’d been lost it would have been a major detriment to the company. We need you to keep killing, you’re the best selling point we have because of who trained you. But you’re pushing your limits of usefulness with this bullshit, Snake.”

Hearing sirens and screams coming from down below, Nagisa and Lioness both leapt to take the man down, hitting him before the cries registered and cuffing him in the next moment.

“The hell is this?” The boss demanded, squirming. “What did you do?”

“Oh, nothing major.” Nagisa said, looking up as military and police swept the headquarters. “I guess I was followed.”

Cursing and screaming as he was led away, the boss swore revenge until he saw Nagisa’s glare and stopped cold. “You’ll pay.”

“If you come near me or mine again, I can promise you will regret it.” Walking out of the room, Nagisa quickly found his way to where Nakamura was sitting. She was happily in deep conversation with Smog, who turned to Nagisa.

“I have to say, kiddo, I’m impressed. I know that your teacher would be, too.” Smog stood, smiling. “And I have to say thank you for all you did for those of us under contract here. Freeing us up will prove helpful.”

Nagisa nodded, unsure. “Please don’t come after any of us in 3-E.”

Smog let out a laugh. “Not to worry, Nagisa. You, I’ve come to basically consider one of my children. As for your classmates, I know what they mean to you. Besides, I’ve been offered a job at a pharmaceutical company, and I intend to take it. It’s a steadier paycheck and I can still work on other things on the side. Who knows, I might make it rich by creating a cure for something. Call me when you want to pick up your dogs, but don’t rush on my account!” Walking off with a jaunty wave, Smog vanished.

“Well. Never thought I’d inspire others to get out of the game but here we are.” Nagisa said, reaching over to Nakamura. “You’re OK?”

“Of course I am. He didn’t want to hurt me.” Taking the hand, Nakamura smiled. “But I am ready to go home. What was that about dogs, though?”

“I have two dogs; I was having Smog look after them until I could get back to them.” Looking to the federal agents, Nagisa smiled. “Are we clear?”

“You three are free to go at any time. Ritsu has connected the computer system and uploaded all necessary files to put everyone away. She’s already headed back to check on the others and inform them of your success.” Offering Nagisa a hand, Karasuma smiled. Not wanting to give away the identity of the agent in charge, Nagisa avoided asking him when he was headed back home as Karasuma continued to talk. “You did it, Coral. Now go home, a car will take you to the airport. Ms. Lioness, you have a ticket waiting for you at the airport as well, ready to take you to any destination you want to go to.”

“Thank you, Agent. I’ll take you up on that.” Turning to Nagisa, Lioness held out her hand. “It was nice knowing you, Snake. Take care.”

“You too, Lioness. Safe travels.” Nagisa said, grinning.

“You too, miss. You’re impressive under fire.” Lioness said, lowering her head to Nakamura in acknowledgement.

“Thank you, Ms. Lioness. Safe travels.” Nakamura said, before turning to Nagisa. “Let’s go home.”

The flight back to Japan was hectic, as Nagisa and Nakamura both slept heavily on their overnight flight. Waking up as they were descending, Nakamura shook Nagisa awake. “Hey, we’re here.”  
“Thank god.” Nagisa said, sitting up. “I don’t know that I can take much more of these seats.”

Quietly, the two made their ways through customs and out to the car that was waiting for them.

“Hey, Nakamura.” Nagisa said, waiting until she looked at him to continue. “How badly did I mess up your diplomatic career?”

Nakamura blinked, surprised. “You didn’t mess it up, Nagisa. After they couldn’t find you, they let me go again. I moved back to Japan to be closer to my family.”

“Oh.” Nagisa nodded. “OK, that’s a huge relief. I felt awful about it.”

“You didn’t have to.” Nakamura reassured. “Now, do you want to hear all the blackmail I’ve got on Karma since you left?”

Nagisa nodded. “Hell yes.”

“One question though, why didn’t you go get your pets? I would think that you want to see them.” Nakamura asked, leaning back in her seat.

“I don’t want to spring them on anyone. I need to tell Karma about them first, and with Smog looking after them until I can get back to my…space…. I know they’re OK. I’ll go back when I can move them to Japan easily. I do need to go clear out my old safehouses, though.” Nagisa smiled. “And I need to talk to Karma about what he wants to do. I left him out of a lot, I’m sure I’m in trouble. Anyway, when I get my old phone back, I’ll show you pics.”

“Aww, that’s OK. I’m not a huge fan of dogs.” Nakamura threw back her hair. “But I’ll still say hello when they get here. Anyway, one time when I was visiting Karma…” Nakamura said, launching into a story of how she’d gotten Karma drunk enough that he’d started to hit on a utility pole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did that feel almost too 'clean' for a take-down mission? Because it felt too clean to me. So my manic mind was like "let's write an alternative ending and see which one we like more' and I did and it turned into, like, 80 extra pages of content when compared to the original ending. Soooo.... I'm going to put both of them up. You can decide which everyone you like more is cannon! I'll be making this a series, so it won't be hard to find. If you read this within the first few minutes of it being up, the second story may not be up yet. Sorry about that! Just give it a few moments.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone.
> 
> Hope you're enjoying the story. If you are, I'd say you'd want to check out its predecessor, A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

After the ride back, Nagisa quietly made his way into Karma’s house, quietly checking the security to see if anyone had been by. When there was nothing on the security system, Nagisa quickly cleaned up a bit before ordering a ticket for the train to the hospital. The ride there was exhilarating. _I know he’s awake, I can’t wait to see him._

Dashing into the hospital, Nagisa found himself sidetracked to the giftshop, where a bouquet of multi-colored roses. While he’d never been one for speaking through flowers, he did know the meaning of most roses. Yellow roses with red tips, peach and red all intermingled, with a few lavender and coral roses thrown in around the edge for good measure. _Friendship and falling in love, love at first sight, with passion and desire all intermingled. It’s…kind of perfect._

Paying for the bouquet, Nagisa made his way back up to Karma’s room, only to find shouting. On high alert, Nagisa slid into the room, only to find people who looked suspiciously enough like Karma lecturing him. Backing up a bit, he waited in the door frame. Saying nothing, Nagisa listened a bit as he waited for Karma to notice him.

“It’s not natural!” The woman—Karma’s mom, if Nagisa was right—snarled. “And besides, how will we get grandkids?”

Karma turned his head, eyebrow raised. “Who the hell said you were getting those anyway?”

 _You’re trying to make this worse, Karma._ Nagisa had to fight back annoyed laughter.

This—predictably—sent the woman into an angry rant. “I can’t believe this. We didn’t raise you to be this way. You’re such a disappointment….”

She carried on for a few minutes, before Nagisa was considering simply coughing to announce his presence. _Should I not be here for this? It seems like a private thing between Karma and his parents._

Knocking on the door frame, Nagisa waited until he was acknowledged before he spoke. “Hey, Karma.”

Karma’s eyes landed on him, fury and indignation filling his gaze. Saying nothing to Nagisa, he turned to his parents. “Get. Out. Now.”

His mother turned back to her son, only to see his expression. “We’re not finished talking about this.”

“Yes. We are. Get out.” Karma’s low snarl got her to stomp out as she grabbed onto her husband and pulled him with her. Glaring at Nagisa, she was frightened back when he pasted on his assassin’s smile. Pulling her husband away as she grumbled under her breath “Not even a cute one…...looks like he’s feral. Where did I go wrong?”

Walking into the room, Nagisa watched the woman. “What’s with her?”

“She’s more than a little disappointed that I’m not the dutiful son she thinks she raised. To be fair, I’m not but that’s because she really didn’t raise me.” Karma growled as he turned his gaze to Nagisa. “But that’s not the issue right now. What the HELL, Nagisa? You went back!”

Blinking, Nagisa processed what he was saying as he felt his temper rising. “Wait, what?”

“You went back to your company! And on top of it all, you’re not even entirely healed! You trusted someone who you didn’t know if you could trust! It was almost like you wanted to be hurt! I can’t face that, Nagisa.” Karma’s face went blank with rage, eyes shooting fire. “You were reckless, short-si…”

Nagisa cut in, anger creeping up his spine. “I didn’t have time to wait for you, Karma! I was doing what I had to to keep you safe! You asked me to trust you; I did. I did what I had to in order to get rid of the hit on you. Why didn’t you trust me? ”  
“It wasn’t you I didn’t trust, Nagisa! How did you know it wasn’t a trap? You shouldn’t have risked yourself.” Karma hissed, anger and rage filling his tone. “Get out. I’ll call you when I want to talk to you! I’m mad as hell at you for putting yourself at risk, AGAIN. For flying off to face…” Karma glanced up at Nagisa before visibly biting his tongue to stop himself from saying what he’d been about to say.

“What the hell? Why don’t you trust my judgement?” Nagisa asked, mad. “I’m trained, and I’m intelligent.”  
“And you’ve been trying to go back to that life since I found you!” Karma shouted, fear pouring form his mouth. “It’s like you’re still trying to die. You’re still injured! What would’ve happened if they’d simply lured you in and killed you? And then Nakamura?” Closing his eyes, the red-head turned to look away. “Until I calm down, I want you to stay away so I don’t say something that’s irreversible. Go.”

Feeling something inside him break, Nagisa said nothing as he put the flowers down by the sink and turned to leave. _Why didn’t you trust my judgement?_ Hurt, Nagisa backed out of the room. Navigating down a bit, he felt a few tears fall. Then he felt rage rise in his gut. _Fuck that, I did nothing wrong._

Pushing away the hurt, Nagisa pulled out his phone. _I know there’s someone who wants to see me._

Dialing his mom, Nagisa waited in the parking lot as it rang.

“Hello, this is Ms. Shiota.” His mom answered, sounding more like herself than she had the last phone call.

“Hi, Mom. Mind if I swing by?” Nagisa asked, please when his mother seemed to brighten.

“Of course, baby boy. Do you know where I am? Or do you have a ride?” Hiromi asked, her voice caring. “I can come get you.”

“I need your address, but I’m just going to catch a train to get to you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Nagisa answered, starting the walk to the nearby train station.

“Of course. I’ll send you the address in a text. I love you, Nagisa.” Hiromi seemed to gush. “Are you OK?”

Glancing back at the hospital in the corner of his eyes, Nagisa nodded. “I’ll be fine. See you soon.”

Quickly paying for the correct ticket and climbing on the train to stare out the window, Nagisa found a nostalgia filling him as he stared out at the scenery passing by. Dashing off at the right stop, Nagisa found his way to the business where his mom was.

Hey, Mom. I’m outside, what floor are you on?

Mom: I’ll be down in a moment! 

Leaning against the small bench close to the front door, Nagisa waited for less than forty seconds when his mom wrapped her arms around him. “You… you look just the same, baby.” Petting over his scalp and hold his face in her hands, his mother pressed close as she cried. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry.”

Grasping tight, Nagisa didn’t let go. “It’s OK, it’s ok. I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before the trial, I was afraid you’d be hurt.”

After a moment to collect herself, Hiromi gently took Nagisa’s hand in hers as she stepped back.

Looking over his mother, Nagisa felt some guilt when he saw her silver hair and the worry lines carved into her face. “Let’s go. I called your father. He’s going to meet us at home. Welcome back, Nagisa.”

“Have I told you how wonderful you look, mom?” Nagisa asked, squeezing her hand. “I’ve missed you. How have you been?”

“Well, we only recently got back home yesterday.” Hiromi said, letting out a bit of a chuckle. “I’ll need to go to the grocery for food later, but that’s not something I’m worried about right now.”

Wrapping an arm around her side, Nagisa held tight. “I’ve missed you, mom.”

Walking with his mom, Nagisa found himself in a fairly nice apartment block. His mom led him up to her apartment, and opened the door. Letting him walk in first, she called out. “Honey, we’re here.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth when Nagisa was pulled into a tight embrace by his dad. “Hi, Nagisa.”

The feelings were less intense, but still enough to have Nagisa press closer. “Hi, dad.”

Hiromi steered both of her boys into the living room. “Baby, I know you told us everything that happened, but would you mind clarifying some things for me? I’m really still confused.”

Sitting down on the couch, Nagisa nodded. “Of course.”

After a few minutes of explaining that, yes, the government had used him as an assassin and them blamed him for the death, Nagisa watched with some nervousness as a familiar screaming face took over on his mom. “Umm… mom?”

“Those bastards will pay for what they did to you, baby.” Hiromi stood, face violent. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Mom, calm down. They’re already paying out quite a bit for that.” Nagisa offered a sharp grin, one that caught his mom by surprise. “It’s part of the agreement for me to drop charges. They’ll pay for it, believe me. I’ve already secured that.”

Dropping back to her seat, she smiled. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. You were always so smart.” Reaching out, she gently pressed her hand to his cheek.

Nagisa’s father reached out, ruffling his hair. “If you want to, you could change your surname. It might help get the media attention off of you, protect you a bit.”

Nagisa smiled, leaning into the affection. “I might. It depends on what happens going forward. As it is, I was hoping to go back to school.”

Hiromi leaned forward, eyes wide in excitement. “Do you know what you want to do?”

“I… think I still want to be a teacher, but I might decide to try for a professorship instead of aiming for a high school teacher.” Nagisa said, coughing. “Is it OK if I grab a glass of water?”

“Of course.” Standing up, Hiromi moved quickly to the fridge. “Actually, we still have a few sodas left. Do you want one?”

“Yes, please. Melon, if you have it.” Nagisa requested.

“Still have a preference for it.” Hiromi grinned, walking back over with a few sodas. Handing Nagisa his melon one, she handed his father an orange and took a cola for herself. Sitting back down, she smiled. “Did you meet anyone while you were away?”

“Mooommmm.” Nagisa groaned, amusement and annoyance fighting as he did so. Amusement won out, as he then explained. “I literally worked in the underbelly of society. If I met anyone, they were trying to kill me. So no, no significant other connections.” _I’m not sure if I want to mention Karma yet. I don’t know how she’d react to it._ “I never got close enough to anyone who was close enough to my age to develop a relationship like that.”

“Well, you’re free to do so now.” Hiromi said, reaching to grasp his hand. “But that’s your choice. I support you either way.”

“I kind of need to get set up here again, anyway. I want to be able to support myself. I won’t live off the money I get from this.” Nagisa said, leaning to nudge his dad. “You know the feeling.”

“I do. I’m proud of you, Nagisa. You are an amazing kid and I cannot believe how strong you were.” His father was never one for a lot of words, but these were the words Nagisa had needed for years.

“Thank you.” Nagisa said, reaching for both of his parents. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“If you need a place to stay until you get back on your feet, you’re welcome here.” Hiromi said, as she slid to sit next to Nagisa on one side as his father sat on the other. As the two initiated a group hug, his mother said “And we’d love to see you more,” as his father nodded vigorously.

“I…” Thinking back to how angrily Karma had told him to leave, Nagisa nodded. “I think that would be nice. I need to go get some stuff though, and I have pets that I need to take care of.”

“Of course. We’re here. Why not stay tonight? I have so many questions for you, baby.” Hiromi reached out. “Our guest room is ready for you, if you want to stay.”

Nodding, Nagisa smiled. “I’d like that. I’ll probably have to go shopping, I don’t have many possessions here. I need new clothes; I’ve mostly been living out of a suitcase.”

Hiromi smiled, eyes going wide as she stood to grab her purse. “I can help with that.”

His father looked at Nagisa with a horrified look as he jokingly scurried back away from the front door. “You have no idea what pain you’ve just bought yourself. You mom is thorugh when she shops.”

“Save me, dad.” Nagisa joked, before standing to join his mother by the front door. “I’ll be fine.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! Hope you're all having a great day! If you haven't checked out A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle, you're missing out. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

An hour later, Nagisa was shaking with the exhaustion of keeping up with his mom. “Mom, that’s enough. I’m fine.”

“I’m sure, but let’s make sure you have some decent interview clothes. If you really intend to go back to school, you’ll need to get in.” Dragging him toward the formal-wear store, Hiromi glanced back guiltily. “Sorry. If you want to stop for the night, we can head back.”

“How about we talk about what I need after I get the rest of my stuff back?” Nagisa offered as a compromise. “Once you see what I bring back you can tell me if I need something better.”

“Sounds good to me. Want to swing by that old sweets shop on the way home?” Hiromi smiled.

“Nah, let’s just get the stuff for dinner and head back.” Nagisa said, sliding one of the many bags back up his arms.

Arriving back at the apartment, Nagisa settled in to the familiar sound of his mom humming as she worked. Pulling out his phone, Nagisa sent Karma a text.

I’m staying at my parents tonight.

K: Got it.

Scowling at his phone before he tossed it to the side on the bed, Nagisa happily went to help his mother with dinner.

For the next few weeks, Nagisa finished tying up any lose endings with his lawyers and setting up or recovering the day-to-day necessities. He checked his bank account after it was unfrozen and made sure that he was given the first installment of the reparations on time. He also transferred most of his funds from the past four years to more accessible accounts, while keeping an ‘emergency’ fund set up in case he ever needed to run. After that, he moved money around and created a savings account as well as setting up a credit card and checking account.

Getting his application in order, Nagisa also reapplied for entry to his old college. Surprisingly, Nagisa was accepted back with ease. Signing up for classes in the next semester, Nagisa also checked out a few apartments around campus that were pet friendly.

Finding a few options, Nagisa checked his phone as he browsed listings.

Still mad? 

K: Yes. And busy with recovery right now. Will talk when I’m out.

Alright.

_How much information do I owe him??_ Sighing, Nagisa shook his head and gave in.

I’m planning on going to pick up some things at my old safehouse. I’ll be gone for a few days. 

Putting the phone to the side, Nagisa started to look up plane tickets and sent a text to Smog about his dogs. Two days later, Nagisa swung by the hospital before he headed to the airport to head out.

Quietly making his way back up to the floor Karma was housed, Nagisa stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Asano standing outside the door. _Well, maybe I really blew it. Asano and Karma fit, though._

Pausing where he was, Nagisa contemplated going to talk to Karma anyway, until he noticed that Asano had closed the door when he’d gone in. _They must not want to be interrupted. I’ll leave them be._

Turning away, Nagisa made his way back to the train without talking to Karma. After he boarded a plane with winter gear carefully tucked into a duffle along with his passport and his shaving kit, Nagisa felt his mind circle. Pulling out a book, Nagisa did his best to focus on the story and not the fact that he’d had yet to receive a text from Karma asking to talk.

Before he’d boarded the plane, he’d sent one last smattering of texts.

Hey, Karma. 

Leaving me hanging like this isn’t cool. I know you were mad at me, and I can—sort of—get where you’re coming from. But telling me to get out and then not talking to me for the better part of a month isn’t OK. 

If you just don’t want to see me anymore, please just tell me. 

My phone will be off for the time I’m traveling, but I hope you’re doing better. 

Pulling out his phone as he sat in his seat, Nagisa flicked through his messages to and from Karma, hoping that he’d get a new one despite the phone being on airplane mode. _Why is he acting like this? Is it just that I really upset him so much by going back to my agency? I had to deal with that situation. They would have kept coming after him. I wasn’t going to risk him. Did he want to go with? Is it just that I didn’t talk to him for a few days? I was getting everything ready, there wasn’t much time. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to him, it was that I literally didn’t have time to do so._

Shaking his head, Nagisa remembered Asano standing outside Karma’s hospital room. _It could be that they’re just friends, but Asano never struck me as someone who stayed friends with his ex. But, is it my place to care? If Karma wants to see him, that’s his choice._

Blindly scanning over the rest of the plane, Nagisa’s introspection continued. _If he wants to talk, he’d better do it soon. I have other things to worry about. And I wasn’t wrong—at least not completely. I should have told him what was going on, checked in on him. That’s on me. But…I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant keeping him—hell, potentially everyone I love—alive. My company wasn’t just going to let me go. They would have eventually tried again and that time I wouldn’t have had a warning._

Rolling his head back to rest against the seat, Nagisa puzzled over his problem until the plane landed. Grabbing his duffle and shuffling off, Nagisa quickly navigated out to his bike. Smiling when the bike purred upon startup, Nagisa quickly took the most direct route home, relishing in the cold air rushing around him. _I missed this._

Reaching his rural home, Nagisa paused in his driveway and took in the house. The two-story house stood tall, silhouetted against the national forest it was backed up against and the night sky. The front door looked welcoming with its frosted glass. Pulling into to the four-car garage, Nagisa parked before making his way inside. Standing in the mud room as he pried off his boots, Nagisa called “Hunter, Ranger. Corazon! Come here.”

The two huskies bounded from their beds upstairs and Nagisa could hear their nails tapping along the floor as they ran downstairs to greet him with tails going a million miles an hour. Ranger—his black and white three-year-old—and Hunter—his blonde yearling—both scrambled for a position on their human’s chest, begging for attention as the happily danced.

Kneeling down, Nagisa spluttered with laughter under the combined joy of his dogs. “Easy, down.”

Obeying the command, both dropped to sit on the linoleum, wiggling and anxious for more attention. Dropping his duffle, Nagisa knelt down and pulled both dogs to him. “I’ve missed you guys.”

Confused, the dogs seemed to tilt their heads at each other at Nagisa’s tone. Licking at his cheeks, they seemed to ask “ _You OK?”_

“I’m so happy to see you. I almost didn’t make it home this time.” Kneeling down, Nagisa let a few tears fall as he thought back to his injury. “But I was saved this time.”

Deciding that they didn’t care that he sounded different, the dogs danced around him for a few more moments.

Walking through the mud room door and past the entry hall and stairwell, Nagisa made his way into his living room. Looking around his house for the first time in years, Nagisa smiled. _How did I find such a gem when I was on the run?_

His living room held an overstuffed gray couch, a few recliners and a coffee table stained with rings all around the edges. Papers were neatly stacked on one edge, and a large-screen TV sat on top of an entertainment system set against the wall of the house and packed with DVDs. A box set of the Sonic Ninja movies was among one of the most prominent sets of movies on the shelf of his entertainment center, sitting off to the side so it was easy to move when he wanted to re-binge the series.

On the walls, different art pieces hung from around the world. Landscapes, abstracts and fantastical painterly canvases lined the walls above the back of the couch and to the hallway that ran around the back of the house. Turning to his kitchen, he made his way to check through the fridge. Opening the door, Nagisa felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. _I need to go get some more fresh produce._

Turning back to the island in the middle of the kitchen, he pulled out the top drawer where he mainly kept his snacks. Picking up a granola bar, Nagisa opened it and took a bite as he surveyed the kitchen. _I can probably drop off the kitchenware at…that one thrift shop in town…what’s it called? Thrift Removed or whatever? I could also probably drop off any kitchen utensils. Those aren’t worth paying to ship them overseas._

Turning back to the living room, he glanced at the furniture, before turning to look at the dining room. A worn oak-wood table big enough to seat six or seven people was surrounded by bar chairs sat by the entrance to the back patio. Outside, slush and snow sat untouched upon the lake shore, and trees filled the skyline.

Walking back into the mud room, Nagisa picked up his bag and made his way up the main staircase to the second floor, petting whichever dog won the ‘follow the leader’ contest as they all walked upstairs. Turning to his left, he walked along the hallway until he reached the master’s bedroom on his right. Opening the door and taking a deep breath, Nagisa felt relief wash over him. The familiar scent of his own room was a lull he’d needed since the job had gone wrong. Relaxing fully, he made his way to his bed and flopped down. “I love being home.”

That thought hit him. _I don’t want to give this place up. I love it here. I love the stillness of the forest, the privacy this place offers me._

Standing to move to the window that overlooked the back of the house, Nagisa puzzled over what to do. _Maybe I could keep this place—make it a vacation house or a retirement house. I have enough money to do upkeep and everything. I’d have to worry about changing over the deed, but keeping it would help solve a lot of the problems of shipping stuff to Japan and having to sell off whatever I didn’t ship out._

Unsure what to do, Nagisa sighed. _I appreciate that I can go back to Japan now—and that I’m legal wherever I go under my own name now, but I don’t know if my life is there now. I could as easily be a teacher here. I’ve changed so much. Am I really able to deal with having my parents around me 24/7?_

Shaking his head, he pushed away the thoughts. _It doesn’t matter right at this second. You’ve signed up for a semester at your old college. But we could sign up to do our masters or doctoral studies here. It could just be a question to revisit later._

Moving back to where he’d dropped his duffle bag, Nagisa began to unpack as his mind circled. After ten minutes when he’d been unable to push the thoughts away, Nagisa groaned loud enough to startle the dogs. “Damn it, why is this so hard?”

Looking back out the window from his place by his closet, he felt a longing for the frigid fresh air. “Let’s go outside!” He said and was almost tackled by the younger of his dogs.

Moving to his closet, he pulled out something he’d indulged himself with when he’d taken down a trafficking ring in New York. As he’d left New York, Nagisa had passed a musical instrument shop and had been called to by the violin in the display. Picking it up, he’d brought it back to his safe house and learned to play over the next two years. Walking downstairs as he carefully navigated his over excited pets and a bulky case for his violin, Nagisa determinedly thought of songs he’d want to play instead of his current predicaments.

Opening the back door, Nagisa let the dogs out before he re-secure the house and moved to stand on the edge of his deck as he gazed at the lake. Putting bow to instrument, Nagisa began to play as his mind drifted.

_Maybe I could keep this house for vacations or something. Or if I ever wanted to take a sabbatical. It would save me from having to sell off all this stuff._

As he worked through song after song, he let himself breathe and relax. Time drifted away as the songs sounded over the small plain of snow and ice before vanishing into the forest. Classical music intertwined with pop music as Nagisa hummed along with himself. Shivering a bit, Nagisa realized he’d been outside for awhile. _It’s getting close to sundown._ Glancing at Ranger and Hunter as they worked off the excess energy playing, he took a deep breath before he called “Let’s go, inside.”

The dogs made their way obediently—Hunter following Ranger—to the door where Nagisa let them in and kicked off the snow before stepping inside himself. Making his way to the kitchen, Nagisa sighed as he looked outside. “What do I want?”

At his words, Ranger brushed up against his side. Without looking down, Nagisa gently buried his hands in the dogs fur. “I…I don’t know what to do, Ranger.”

Ranger let out a low ‘woof’, sitting down next to his bowl.

Letting out a snort, Nagisa sighed. “Yeah, OK. Food first.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. Sorry this is a little late today, I was out getting a haircut so I'm not tempted to commit homicide. (I hate my hair long, it gets in my eyes and I can't see and that is a PROBLEM.) 
> 
> Anywho.... if you haven't checked out the work this one is based on, you totally should! Here's the link to A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Feeding his dogs, he turned on the news for some background noise as he worked through the complicated instructions of “turn on oven to 176 degrees, put pizza in for twenty minutes, eat while hot.”

A few syllables caught his ear, as he pulled the pizza out. “…. indicates a winter storm and a big one at that. Residents are advised to avoid going out tomorrow anytime from ten AM onward. Winds will be blowing from the southwest and will be stirring up the snow that is predicted to top over ten inches.”

“Welp. Forget everything else, we’re going to be stuck inside for a little bit.” Nagisa grumbled at the thought of being stuck indoors for a few days. Turning off the oven and eating his dinner, Nagisa started to plan for the snow.

Walking upstairs, he retrieved his phone before going to the peg board in the mud room to retrieve his truck keys. “I need to go to the grocery. Ranger, Hunter.”

Waiting until both dogs acknowledged him, he walked to the garage door. “Load, truck.”

Quickly getting himself and the dogs into the truck, Nagisa pulled out onto the road for the forty-five-minute drive to the local grocery.

Glancing around at the mostly empty road, Nagisa felt that he wouldn’t’ be judged for talking to his dogs. “So, guys, I have a lot to tell you.”

Hunter let out an inquiring ‘ooo?’ as if they were actually talking.

“Well, I was injured on this last job. And, I don’t know that I can do this job anymore. I’m…tired. I’m so tired of fighting for my life. So, when a chance to get out came, I took it. And while I was away, I…. reconnected with someone. Someone who meant a lot to me… And I realized he still kinda does. But… I don’t know if what he wants and what I want align?”

“Oohoo?” Ranger poked his head out above the center console.

“I know. I should just ask him. But… we kind of got into a fight ri…well, not right before I left, but the last time I saw him before I left.”

“OoohoooO?” Hunter asked, only to have Ranger nip at him with a “OO.”

“I tried to talk to him. He’s the one giving me silent treatment.” Nagisa grumbled, checking his rearview mirror. “And don’t bite your brother, Ranger.”

“MMopM.” Ranger said, pointedly glaring at Nagisa in the rearview mirror in a very husky-like manner.  
“I know. Anyway, we’re all going to be going back to Japan for at least a few years.” Nagisa said, returning his gaze to the road. “And it may be a huge adjustment for you two. I’m sorry if it is, but I want to finish my bachelors at a school I know.”

“Mmmmm.” Hunter said.

“And I want to be a teacher. I think, anyway. Maybe a professor. They’d have more freedom to move.” Nagisa grinned, thinking of future plans. “Maybe of English. I wouldn’t mind studying other subjects, but I think movies and stories got me through a lot of the last four years.”  
“OOhhh!” Ranger barked, brining Nagisa’s attention back to him.

“Yes, you guys did, too. I’m sorry, I thought that much was obvious?” Nagisa laughed as Ranger snorted and laid down on the backseat.

Laughing a bit, Nagisa reached for the radio. “I don’t know. I love it here, and I love the quiet. Maybe that’s all I need right now.”

Saying nothing else as the radio kicked on, Nagisa felt a weight he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying slide off his shoulders.

Pulling up to the store, Nagisa left the dogs in the car as he dashed in. Making quick work of grabbing anything he felt he needed, Nagisa heard his phone ring as he debated himself at the ice cream aisle.

Grabbing the phone from his pocket, Nagisa answered. “Hello?”

“Nagisa?” Karma’s voice carried over the line. “Where are you?”

“Haven’t you been checking your messages?” Nagisa asked, a little perturbed.

“Yes, I know you’re out gathering stuff at your main safe house, right? I’m just wanting to know where that is.” Karma said, confidence dripping through his question.

“Don’t worry about it, we can talk when I get back.” Nagisa said, quickly picking up two pints of ice cream—mint chocolate chip and moose tracks—he started to walk back to the self-checkout.

“Wait. Nagisa, I wanted to talk. Please, where are you?” Karma asked, pleading.

“I’m at my safehouse. And you shouldn’t be traveling internationally yet, Karma. If you really need to talk to me, I’ll be home in about an hour and a half. I can talk to you then.” Nagisa said, joining the line to the self-check-out. “As it is, I’m going to be here awhile. There’s a blizzard on the way. Bye, Karma.”

“Wait, Nag…” Karma said, as Nagisa hung up the phone.

Checking out, Nagisa hauled all the groceries to the truck and put them in the back before pulling the cover over the bed of the truck in order to keep everything safe. Climbing back into the truck, Nagisa drove home with nothing but the sounds of his dogs happily grumbling in the back.

Arriving home, Nagisa started to unload everything when he heard his phone ring again. Picking it up and checking the number, Nagisa groaned before he answered. “What?”

“Nagisa, don’t hang up. Where are you?” Karma asked, voice desperate. “Please.”

“I’ll be back in Japan soon enough. You’ve avoided talking to me for a few weeks! Why is it so important to talk to me now?” Nagisa asked, some of the anger leaking through.

“I know, I know I was wrong. I’m sorry. Please, just tell me where you are?” Karma asked again.

“I don’t know that you’re supposed to be flying, Karma. You only just got out of the hospital, right?” Nagisa asked, leaning against his kitchen counter while he contemplated opening the ice cream.

“Let me worry about that, Nagisa. Please, just tell me where you are.” Karma pleaded, and Nagisa sighed.

“You’re not going to let this go until I tell you, are you?” Nagisa asked, waiting for the response.

“No, we need to talk.” Karma was firm as he spoke. “Please?”

“Don’t come out soon. As I said, there’s a blizzard on the way. I’m in Canada. I’ll send you the address.” Nagisa said, giving in to get him to leave him alone. “Now, I need to go. I’ve got stuff to put away.”

“OK. I’ll see you soon, Nagisa.” Karma said.

“Did you not….” Hearing the dial tone, Nagisa sighed. “He didn’t listen.”

Snorting with annoyed amusement, Nagisa continued to unload his groceries after sending Karma his address. _I’ll swing back by the grocery later if I need more stuff._

Walking along the back hallway, Nagisa made his way up the second staircase and turned to the right to walk to his room. Walking into his bathroom after he’d shucked his clothes to the hamper, Nagisa turned on the bath and soaked in the warm water with some Epsom salts as he listened to the wind whistle as the storm started to blow in.

 _We’re in for one hell of a storm._ Nagisa thought, as he pulled on his favorite pair of pajamas—a ripped muscle shirt with the sleeves cut off and a pair of red, black and yellow plaid pajama pants.

Grabbing an extra blanket from the closet, Nagisa spread it over his bed before he crawled in to his bed. Turning on the TV attached to the wall, Nagisa let himself completely sink into his mattress as he drifted to sleep with music playing in the background to drown out the banshee’s scream of wind outside.

Blinking his eyes open several hours later, Nagisa turned to the side of his bed in order to slink out and carefully move the blinds less than half-an-inch in order to see the weather.

Shivering a bit at the cold air between the window and the curtain when it snuck through the gap, Nagisa watched the outside world of blowing snow and little visibility. Glancing back, he saw his old alarm clock. _It’s only eight-thirty? I thought the storm was supposed to hit at ten-ish. Ah, well._

Climbing back into bed, Nagisa grabbed it from its spot on the nightstand next to the bed. Clicking through his messages, Nagisa nearly groaned when he saw the one from Karma that had been sent early the night before.

K: I’m headed out your way. Don’t vanish before I get there.

Checking the time differences, Nagisa sighed before sending a message back.

We’re in the middle of a blizzard. You won’t be able to get to my house, and no ride-share comes out this far. What are you going to do to get here?

K: I’ll figure it out. 

Rolling his eyes and rolling off the edge of the bed, Nagisa slipped into the bathroom and cleaned up before heading downstairs to stat on a breakfast. Looking out of the window above the kitchen sink, Nagisa shook his head as his usual run route was currently under about a foot and a half of snow. “Nope. Not going for a run outside today…” 

Hearing the tapping of claws on the stairs, Nagisa saw Ranger and Hunter both walking toward him. “You guys want to go out, don’t you?”

Seeing two ecstatically wagging tales, Nagisa started the coffeemaker and quickly worked through putting his travel mug of coffee together as he gathered his winter articles. Pulling them on and pouring out his coffee into a mug, he leased the dogs and braved the cold for a good forty minutes.

Pulling the dogs back in after those minutes, Nagisa sighed as he glanced at the clock. “I don’t know how long until Karma gets here.”

_What all do I need to do to get things done? And what am I OK with him seeing? I…. I don’t want him to see my ‘work’ files, so those need to go. Well, I need to pack up my closet, get rid of all of my files downstairs from the locker, removed all evidence of any false identities, get rid of any weapons I don’t want to keep…but what weapons do I want to keep as an in case? I mean, I’ve got a few different rifles, several hand guns…the knives I have aren’t something I want to get rid of. What do I keep as an ‘in-case’ type of scenario?_

_Well, I’ve got a bank account set up for that, and I would be able to rebuy a lot of my weapons and identification. But, it would save me cash if I just keep everything. And it’s not like I can just erase all of what I’ve done the last four years. Maybe I should just keep everything here? I mean, the most that I need to worry about others finding is my victims file and I’ve already got those hidden behind a false wall._

_But should I really get rid of the files? It’s not like it’ll get rid of their deaths—or their faces in my mind’s eye. It’s not like I can just wipe it away. That…not that it’s disrespectful to that trash, but to their families……._

Throat closing as he tried to justify himself, Nagisa struggled to make his way to the couch to collapse on it. Feeling overwhelmed, he started to curl up under the pressure until he felt Ranger splay out across his chest and lick his face. Letting out a cracking laugh, Nagisa buried his hands in the dogs fur. “What would I do without you?”

Ranger merely licked him as a response.

After another half-an-hour of lying under a breathing wall of fur, Nagisa gently moved out from under Ranger’s hold as he rubbed the dogs ears. “I’m so glad you’re so well trained.” Looking to his left to find Hunter there, he laughed as the puppy came forward for attention. “We’ll work with your training later, goof.”

Hunter flopped onto his back to beg for belly rubs. Indulging for a few moments, Nagisa picked up his phone again. Karma had—unsurprisingly—texted him again about five minutes ago.

K: How in the hell do you survive this frozen wasteland? It’s fucking freezing. Anyway, I’ve gotten a ride and I’m headed out to yours. I should be there in an hour or two, if my driver ever finds the gas pedal. 

Knowing he had a limited amount of time before Karma arrived, Nagisa made his way downstairs. Coming off the stairs and turning to the right, Nagisa looked over the room. To his far right, a group of utility shelves sat with provisions like morphine and bandages. Along the corner of the room, a built-in meat locker radiated malevolence while a kitchenette rested ahead and an office-slash-gym-slash-library took up the area to his left.

Making his way to the meat locker, Nagisa took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. It didn’t help as he unlocked the door of the locker. Kicking the doorstop under the door, Nagisa shivered as the icy atmosphere rolled over him as he stood in the entrance trying to drum up the courage to go to the back wall of the locker and move the shelf that concealed his files on his targets—the ring they’d been a part of, the murders they’d committed, everything that Nagisa had needed to convince himself that their murders were justified.

 _It’s now or never, Nagisa. Deal with the remnants of the snake’s shed skin and then you can go upstairs and just pretend you’re a dooms-day prepper like all of the other respectable crazies of the world._ With his breath sawing in and out as he took each pace, Nagisa made his way to back wall. Popping the hidden latch, Nagisa carefully leaned his weight into moving the wall to reveal the manilla folders, each sealed in its own waterproof baggie. Grabbing a handful of the bags he’d created, Nagisa carried them out to his desk before repeating the process to gather all of his victim’s files in one place.

Starting up the industrial shredder he’d kept for credit cards and false identities he’d no longer needed, Nagisa reached for a file when something kicked in him. Instead of shredding the files, he opened the first one.

Takaoka’s happy and semi-psychotic face grinned up at him. Nagisa had constructed the file on the man after his death, to deal with the loss of his innocence. _I needed to know I’d done the right thing, but did I?_ Feeling his stomach shrink at the sight of his tormentor, Nagisa force himself to look over the file again.

**Akira Takaoka:**

*** Born premature; was in NICU for a few months before going home to his family Came from a single-parent household, father absent. However, extended family filled the gap (Interviews with Family available in Appendix 1)**

***Intelligent—often maintained straight A’s in his academic studies. (See Academic Transcripts—under Appendix 1: Before Air Force)**

***Joined the air force at eighteen; described as ‘dedicated, hard-working if a bit obsessive about being the best’ as he moved up to the ranks**

***Has some psychology background—studied while on GI bill. (See Academic Transcripts—under Appendix 1: Before Air Force)**

***His old recruits often described him in terms of a bogey-man “Blink the wrong way and he’ll show up. You don’t want him to show up, because f he does, you’re going to be in the infirmary for a few weeks.”**

***Remarkably jealous when compared to others—Air Force Psychologists had agreed that he could be dangerous and reassigned him so he’d have less access despite all of his successes.**

***Considered Agent Karasuma his rival, and was determined to beat him—continually bragged to his fellow teammates that he’d win.**

***To further his goal, joined the Assassination Classroom (See Appendix 3 for more information on him after his attempt on the classroom)**

Shutting the file, Nagisa felt his stomach roll. _He was insane. I know he was. Why do I feel guilty?_

Feeling his stomach shrink a bit, Nagisa opened the other folder and pulled out the pictures he kept clipped to the information. Looking at each smiling face, he felt nausea push through him until he couldn’t stand it anymore. Rushing to the downstairs bathroom in front of the foot of the stairs, he felt his body reject all of the food he’d eaten in the last few hours.

Leaning against the counter next to the toilet, Nagisa slumped down exhaustedly. “Damn it.”

Ranger pushed into the bathroom, whimpering as he nuzzled his human.

“I’m OK, Ranger. I’m OK.” Grasping the dog to him, Nagisa buried his head in the dog’s furred shoulder. “Why does this bug me so much?”

Searching deep inside himself, he came to an answer. _Because I’ve killed and if we’re judging based on lives lost, I’m no better than them._

Feeling Ranger stiffen under his touch, Nagisa was broken from his dark thoughts when the dog shot off. _What?_

Hearing Hunter start to go off, Nagisa climbed to his feet before nearly staggering into the wall. Taking a deep breath before he tried to walk again, Nagisa made his way up to the entry way where both dogs were staring intently at the front door.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone. We're coming into the end stretch with this work, so there will only be a few more chapters of this. 
> 
> Anyway, if you haven't checked out A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle, you're missing out. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Checking the peephole, Nagisa sighed. Opening the door, he waved Karma in. “Careful, don’t make any sudden moves. Ranger’s trained to attack if he feels I’m threatened. Walk in, put everything down and hold out your hand. Ranger, Hunter, friend.”

Carefully stepping into the house, Karma shivered a bit as he carefully introduced himself to the dogs after moving his hands away from his bags. “Nagisa.”

Stepping back a few paces, Nagisa took in Karma, who was dressed in a pair of jeans, an old black sweater and bags under his eyes that were big enough to be checked. “You look exhausted. If you want, there’s a couple of beds upstairs. I was in the middle of something, if you’l….”

Karma reached out, pulling Nagisa to his chest despite the warning growls from the dogs. “We need to talk, Nagisa.”

Pulling back so he could look at Karma in the eyes, Nagisa did his best to figure out what Karma was thinking. Seeing his eyelids start to fall, Nagisa leaned into the touch before he gently grabbed Karma’s wrist to tug him upstairs. “Come on, let’s go.”

Following with a token protest, Karma followed Nagisa as he was led up the stairs. “We need to talk.”

“I guess? But it can wait.” Nagisa insisted, leading Karma into one of the guest bedrooms. Pushing the taller man down on the bed, Nagisa started to leave when he felt Karma’s hand grab at his wrist.

“Nagisa, I don’t want to break up with you. I don’t want this to end, and I still love you.” Karma’s voice was steady before a yawn hit. Lying down, Karma’s eyes slid shut as he said the last bit. “Don’t leave again, and we can talk.”

Affection warmed the center of Nagisa’s stomach. Hearing Karma start to snore, he glanced over the sleep-lax red-head. Standing, he quietly made his way downstairs to soothe the still grumbling huskies and make himself something light to try to keep down.

After an hour, Nagisa found himself sitting on the top stair to the basement. Every time he tried to move down the stairs, his stomach threatened to expel what little food he’d managed to get down between nervous bites. Staring down the stairs, Nagisa tried to will himself down. “You need to get this done. You have to…” He whispered to himself, guilt hitting him. “You have to get rid of the evidence to fully move on.”

So intent was he staring down his stairs that he didn’t notice when Karma sat down next to him, even as Ranger offered a low warning growl that Karma ignored.

“I need to get rid of them, need to throw it away. But, how can I? I’m no different from them.” Nagisa muttered, eyes glazed over as his mind circled. “Because I judged them on their bad deeds, did I do the wrong thing? What else could I…?”

Karma didn’t say anything as he sat down next to Nagisa, gently reaching out to grasp his friend’s shoulder. Unconsciously leaning into the touch, Nagisa did his best to internalize all of his panicked mummers, but only found that he was shaking harder.

“Nagisa?” Karma’s voice was gentle, reaching to pull Nagisa to his chest. “What’s going on?”

“I…I….” Nagisa spluttered, wishing he could find the words he wanted to say.

“Nagisa. Look at me, please.” Karma said, one arm going around his the bluenette’s shoulders.

Shaking a bit, Nagisa turned to his friend. “Y..yes?”

“What’s up, Nagi? Is everything OK?” Karma kept his voice down as he did his best to soothe Nagisa.

“I… I need to get rid of them. I want to forget it happened.” Nagisa didn’t see Karma start to ask a question as he continued. “Because, if I look at the way I judged them, I’m just as bad. I…”

“Nagisa. Stop.” Karma’s voice broke through the thought spirals in Nagisa’s head.

After a few moments, the tremors Nagisa didn’t realize he’d been having subsided. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Just, let me help?” Karma asked, reaching up to run his hand over Nagisa’s hair.

“I don’t think I can, Karma. I don’t want it touching you. Not them.” Nagisa shook his head, standing up and moving to the kitchen window to look out.

Karma stood, but gave Nagisa his space. “What don’t you want near me?”

“Their files.” Nagisa shuddered, speaking before he realized what he was saying. “My victims. I don’t want you to see them, or to see how many there are or…”

“Nagisa, that wouldn’t change anything. I love you.” Karma said, moving quietly so his chest brushed Nagisa’s back as he leaned down to . “You are who I love, who’ve I’ve loved since I was in middle school. Please believe me.”

“You say that, but then you got upset when I went to deal with the threat. Then you go silent for weeks on me and don’t say anything. Then, when I came to visit you, I saw you with Asano. I just… I kinda figured you’d made up with him. He doesn’t seem the type to be friendly with his exes.” Nagisa felt Karma stiffen a bit against his back a bit before he sighed.

“I didn’t realize it would upset you.” Karma stepped back to let Nagisa have some space. “I wasn’t talking to Asano to rekindle a relationship, Nagisa. He’s actually a decent friend once you get to know him. And I’m not going to give that friendship up. It means a lot to me that he’ll still reach out once in awhile to talk to me. He was just checking in on me. After all, I did get shot.” Karma said, laughing a bit.

Nagisa closed his eyes as dread filled him. “I know.” His voice shook as he spoke.

“Hey, hey. I’m OK.” Karma said, slipping his arms around Nagisa in a fast hug. “I promise, I’m OK.”

“But you wouldn’t have been through a second attempt, Karma.” Nagisa steadied himself. “That’s why I had to deal with the threat first. I didn’t want to do it myself, but there was no one else I could trust. I wanted to make sure you’d be OK. What good is freedom if I lose everything that matters once I have it?”

“I… I just wish you’d waited for me to help you. I never wanted you to have to face them, never face those devils again. They’ve hurt you, hurt you for so many years. I didn’t want them to get another chance at you. You weren’t even fully healed.” Karma seemed to tremble at the reminder. “You weren’t even healed. That would have made you an even easier target.”

“Do you want me to wait until you’re done before asking if you’re black, kettle?” Nagisa grumbled, poking a gentle finger into Karma’s side. “You flew here, not fully healed.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t walking into a place where people wanted me dead.” Karma said, grasping Nagisa close. “I wasn’t intent on taking down a bunch of criminals who kill people.”

“Well, you are in an assassins house, though.” Nagisa said, partially joking.

Karma offered a small playful grimace before he spoke again, leaning against the island. “Yeah, but… this assassin I love. And I’m pretty sure he loves me, too. I’m safe. And… I owe you an apology, Nagisa. I was wrong to go silent. But I won’t apologize for being scared for you. They would have killed you. Probably even tried.”

“You asked me to trust you, when you came to find me, Karma. I need you to trust me when you hear this: I was safe.” Walking in front of Karma so their eyes met, Nagisa continued. “I knew the assassins I was working with. I know they had a grudge against the company—hell, most of us there did. The older assassins were sick of the percentage differences, the younger ones were beaten by a sadistic bastard who I will not call by name. Everyone wanted out of their contracts. They were willing to help me. And I had back-up in the form of the government. One particular agent, if it makes you feel any better.”

“That man is not human.” Karma muttered, smirking at the memory of their old gym teacher. “I swear, he isn’t.”  
“I’ve come to the same conclusion. Can you imagine what his daughter is going to be like? If she hit the jackpot, she’s going to have the social intelligence of her mother combined with the incredible minds of both of them and the ridiculous physicality of her daddy. She’s going to be a force to be reckoned with.” Nagisa smiled at the thought of the young girl.

“She is. But, back on topic. I…trust you. If you say that you were safe, I will trust you. Just… never again?” Karma pulled Nagisa close to his chest, one arm wrapped around him in a comforting restraint and the other hand cupping the nape of his neck. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you until now. I just wanted the conversation to happen in private and not at the hospital.”

“Why?” Nagisa asked, burrowing closer. “Why was it so important that it be private?”

“Gee, I don’t know, because you’re an assassin and we were talking about taking out a company of them? That tends to freak people out a bit. Imagine if they’d called the cops on you because they thought you were there to execute a hit. The only reason you’re out of prision right now is because you kept your past under wraps. I didn’t want to undo that because we argued a little bit too loud. And because you’re worth the world to me and I wanted to prove it to you.” Karma ran a hand down to the center of Nagisa’s back. “I want to help you in anyway I can. If it’s helping you get rid of things, we’ll throw them into the dumpster and set it on fire. If it’s helping you work through all of your feelings, I’ll help you find a therapist who would understand. I don’t know where one would be, but we’ll find them. But, I need to know what you want. I know I railroaded you, I pushed you.” Stepping back and away from Nagisa, Karma kept his eyes down as he moved a respectable distance to stare at Nagisa with open longing. “Do you want this relationship?”

Shocked, Nagisa watched as Karma waited nervously with his emotions struggling across his face. Joy, love, acceptance and respect for his blunette classmate, friend, and lover crossed his eyes in a way anyone but a former assassin would’ve missed.

Walking to Karma, Nagisa wrapped an arm around Karma’s waist before he reached up to tug Karma down into a fast peck. “I…. want to try. I do. I’m just…scared.”

“I understand. I’ll do my best to be there, if you’ll let me.” Karma held tight to his love. “Let me help.”

“You can, but I need you to trust me. I need you to hear me about something: If it comes to your safety, I will do what I can—legally, healthily, and what’s possible—to keep you as safe as you want to keep me. That’s what I did with my company. I will not risk your life.” Nagisa took a deep breath, stepping back as a few tears fell. “I don’t want to lose you, either. Or anyone who I care about. If I have to fight for you, or anyone else, I don’t want to face any bullshit like this past week.”

“I know, but I don’t want you hurt. I will help you if anything like this arises again. Please, let me?” Karma pleaded, as much as Karma ever pleaded.

Laughing a bit, Nagisa burrowed into his telephone-pole tall boyfriend. “Fine. But if you go to the hospital, I will do what I have to.”

“Fine, but if I go AMA in the future, I’m using you as an excuse to the doctors.” Karma said, yelping a bit when Nagisa thumped his uninjured side. “Hey!”

“If you’re dumb, it’s because you’re dumb and you’re not blaming me for that.” Nagisa said, tilting his head back to look up his boyfriend’s chest.

Laughing, Karma picked up his boyfriend and tossed him over his shoulder. “How you going to stop me, shorty?”

As the two laughed, Ranger huffed a low growl at the two. Karma sighed as he bent down to put Nagisa down. “I don’t think your dog likes me.”

“Well, he’s not used to seeing me touching another person…” Flushing, Nagisa reached out to Ranger. “Easy, boy. Friend.”

When Ranger subsided with a huff, Nagisa snorted as the dog dramatically walked away with his tail up and headed up the stairs. “I’m sorry, he’s basically my guard dog. He’s trained to keep me safe when I sleep here.”  
“Then I love him and will figure out how to be his friend. Do you feed him human food?” Karma asked, kneeling to run his hands over the younger puppy who’d come up to them instead.

“No, why?” Nagisa asked, grinning as both boyfriend and puppy seemed enamored with each other.

“I’ll work that into my plans. However, I do have a few questions for you.” Karma said, standing and offering a hand to Nagisa.

Taking it, Nagisa followed Karma’s lead as he pulled him up the stairs and into the master bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Kama patted the spot next to him. “I have a few questions about this house.”

_Nah._ Nagisa pressed close to his boyfriend’s chest, overbalancing the two so they were sprawled out across the bed. “Can it wait, just a bit?”

Crawling up Karma’s prone form, Nagisa put his head down on Karma’s shoulder and wrapped his body around his boyfriend as he relished the warmth of Karma’s soft gaze.

Karma blinked; eyes soft. “I guess? What’s up?  
“You’ve been gone for nearly a month. I missed you.” Nagisa said, pressing closer to his boyfriend. “Can we… just stay, like this, for a little while?”

“Sure, Nagisa. I love you.” Karma said, wrapping his arms around Nagisa’s waist. “If I fall asleep, wake me when you go downstairs. I don’t want you to face that trauma alone. Even if you don’t want me to help, I want to sit close by so you know you’re alone. Hell, I’ve got a few new books to read.”

Feeling affection sprout through his stomach, Nagisa closed his eyes as he laid in the embrace of his boyfriend. Quietly, the two relaxed fully in a sleepily loving embrace. Falling under the calm of the late afternoon, both occupants fell to a healing sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the epilogue left to go, and I'll probably upload that later today. Thank you for those who stuck around for the journey!
> 
> If you're sad it's ending and need something else to read, I would recommend A Contract Between Killers by NoteInABottle. It's super good. Here's the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

Blinking awake a little while later, Nagisa felt his stomach growl. “Mmmrm.”

Karma snickered. “Same. What time is it? I’m still way off with jet lag and time difference. We’re like, fifteen hours ahead, right?”

“Sixteen, but yes. It’s about eight PM.” Blinking his eyes wide, Nagisa scooted off the edge of the nest they’d created while asleep. “I need to feed the dogs.”

An agreeing grumble came from the end of the bed, startling Karma. “What the?”

“That’s where their beds are. C’mon, you two. Dinner.” Nagisa said, jogging down the stairs as he trusted that the dogs would follow him instead of focusing on the still new person in the house.

Getting into the kitchen and pulling out the dog food, Nagisa doled out the usual rations to his pets as he considered what to make as a fast light meal. Opening the fridge, he scanned over the shelves when a warm kiss was dropped on the nape of his neck. “See anything good?”  
“You’re lucky I stocked up on food before you got here or I’d make you load back up and go to the store with me.” Nagisa grumbled, gently elbowing Karma to get him to back up. Grabbing some basic lunch meat and cheeses, Nagisa grabbed the loaf of bread. “Can you grab some plates from the cabinet next to the microwave? Plates are on the first shelf, glasses above that if you want something to drink.”

Placing plates down, Karma started on his own sandwich as Nagisa grabbed himself some cold water from the fridge tap. “So…. what’s up with this house?”

“What do you mean?” Nagisa asked, taking a sip of water as he watched Karma.

“When did you get it? Does your old company know about it? Is this basically where you’ve lived for the past four years? What is this place to you?” Karma asked, rapid-fire shots firing as he piled his sandwich high and put the last piece of bread on it.

“It’s…. my haven? I guess that’s the best word for it. It was the one safe house where I actually felt ‘safe’, as my company had no idea I had it. Even Smog didn’t get its location until I knew damn well that he wasn’t going to tell them. I have other safe houses—one in each country for the bigger areas, and one in a central radius for smaller groups of countries.” Nagisa said as he started to assemble his sandwich. “I wasn’t here much—I tended to bounce from mission to mission as dictated by my company. I really only used it when I needed a break…which wasn’t often allowed. Haven, safe place, home? Kind of all three. I love it here, but… some parts are definite reminders.”

Taking a bite of his own sandwich, Nagisa considered what to do about it. “I guess I could remodel some of it, but I swear the corner downstairs with the meat locker just radiates malevolence.”

“Wait, back up. Meat locker? Nagisa, what the fuck? Please tell me you didn’t eat people.” Karma’s eyes were wide as he seemed to consider the possibility.

“Gross, NO.” Putting his sandwich to the side, Nagisa felt nausea take him over at the idea of eating people. “Karma, it’s a hunting cabin. Most people up here hunt game and store it in the meat locker. I just put up a false wall to hide files in it because no one would go near the damn thing, it’s that scary!”

Laughing, Karma gently started to tease Nagisa. “Awww, poor little baby assassin is scared of a corner of his own home?”

“You know what?” Nagisa snapped, gently grabbing Karma’s wrist. “Come with me.”

“What, gonna sacrifice me to the eldritch deer deity in the freezer?” Karma asked as he followed his boyfriend down to the basement. “I promise I’ll slay it for you.”

Grumbling, Nagisa tugged Karma to the corner and opened the door. “After you.”

Karma’s signature grin didn’t falter for a moment as he looked over the freezer. “Feels fine to me.” Walking in with a huge show of bravado, Karma seemed to relish Nagisa’s stare. “Baby, there’s nothing haunted about this place. You’re imagining.”

Grumbling, Nagisa started to turn to go back upstairs when the files spread all over the floor caught his eye.

_Don’t freeze up, maybe he won’t see them._ Walking to the stairs, Nagisa glared from a safe distance at Karma who stood in the meat locker doorway. “You’re so sadistic the spirit left.”

Karma laughed, eyes lovingly following his tiny boyfriend. “No, it’s not that bad, you wuss.”

Groaning as he started up the stairs, Nagisa heard Karma start to follow him. “No, come back bab… what are these?”

Feeling his body stiffen, Nagisa pushed up the stairs at a decent clip before he took a seat at the dining room table to breathe for a moment. _I’ll take a moment, then go find him._ Waiting for the axe to fall so he wouldn’t have to explain, Nagisa listened to the silence of the house, and the distant sound of pages being flipped.

After a moment Nagisa stood and made his way back to the stairs. Hearing Karma’s feet on the stairs—the third one creaking as he stepped on it—Nagisa felt his stomach tie itself into knots.

“Nagisa?” Karma called, breaching the top of the stairs and gently grasping Nagisa’s arm. “Nagisa, talk to me.”   
“I’m right here.” Nagisa said, leading Karma to the table. “I was coming back. I just needed a moment.”

“Alright. You’ve had the moment. I take it those are the files you want to shred?” Karma asked, dropping down into the chair he’d set askew.

“Yeah, they’re of...” Karma cut Nagisa off before he could finish as he balled his hands beneath him.

“They’re of all of your victims. They’re a real trigger for you, aren’t they?” Karma asked, reaching to grab one of the hands and tugging it away from its mate to hold it.

Nagisa nodded, guilt coursing through him. “I just…. They make me wonder how anyone could care about me. How do you care for someone like me knowing what I’ve done?” Nagisa asked, still stuck.  
“Same way I always have. Did you forget I know what it means to take a life?” Karma asked, quietly. “I know how much it can hurt, how much you pull yourself apart. And I know you know the value of life. I see how much it hurts you, Nagisa. I know. I know it tears at you. You’re asking if what you did was right. And, if the one file I glance through was right, you did.”

“Did I really? How do I know that they couldn’t have changed like me?” Nagisa asked, memories hitting him hard of each victim.

“We’ll never know.” Karma’s words were harsh. “But that doesn’t mean you have to keep asking yourself if it was right. We can judge based on previous actions. Those you took out were bad people, Nagisa. You know this, logically.”

“I know, logically. I just keep seeing their faces in my mind. I can’t get rid of them. I don’t know how to erase them!” His breathing kicked into overdrive as he felt panic suffuse him. “I don’t know how.”

“You can’t keep letting this spook you, baby.” Karma’s bittersweet exhaustion poured out in those syllables before he resolved and continued to talk. “And I will be there to help you. If it’s getting rid of those damn files, I will help you shred them! If you need other proof that I love you, I will prove it. Now let me help you.”

“Alright. I want to get rid of it. I want to forget.” Nagisa said, grasping the hand holding his.

“Then let’s get to shredding. Everything else can wait, let’s go.” Karma said, lunging up to his feet and pulling Nagisa with him. “You have a shredder down there, right?”

“An industrial one.” Nagisa confirmed, trotting to try and keep up with Karma’s strides.

“Oh, this is going to be fun.” Karma’s malicious glare had Nagisa laughing a bit as the two made their ways downstairs.

Quietly starting up the shredder, Karma picked up Takaoka’s file. “Fuck this bastard in particular, we’re burning the shreds of the paper later when it’s not a complete white-out outside.”

Laughing a bitter laugh, Nagisa nodded. “Sounds good.”

Quietly, the two began to work in tandem ripping the files into chunks and feeding the paper into the shredder with a few breaks to take care of the dogs. Working quickly after conversation fell through due to the tension Nagisa held as he worked, the two were still down in the basement for three hours as the two worked through all of the research he’d done on any and all potential clients.

“Jesus, Nagisa. I don’t know why I’m surprised, but you did your homework.” Karma said, flipping through a few pages of one of the files relating to the New York traffiking ring.

“Yeah, well, what can I say? Sensei taught me well to look for any and all small weaknesses.” Nagisa joked, but it fell flat.

“Yeah.” Karma’s voice was soft and nostalgic. “I miss him.”

“I do, too…but I swear he’s haunting us. He definitely visited me in my dreams.” Nagisa grumbled, thinking back to the now hazy memories of his dream.

“Wait, he visited you too?” Karma’s surprised had Nagisa reeling back.

“Wait, you??” Nagisa felt his jaw drop as the two snapped their gazes to each other.

After a few seconds of amazed silence, the two started to laugh.

“That damn fucker wasn’t going to leave us ever, was he?” Karma said, dropping to the ground as he clutched his sides.

“Nope!” Nagisa said, sides heaving as he slowed in laughter. “It’s kind of comforting.”

“Damn smug octopus.” Karma grumbled, feeding the last bit of paper into the shredder and turning it off. “Is that all of it?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Standing up and stretching, Nagisa reached out to Karma. “I’m ready for bed, what about you?”

Yawning, Karma took the hand and allowed Nagisa to pull him to his feet. “Yeah, sleep sounds good.”

Holding hands, the two crested the top of the stairwell to the basement and turned to the living room. Karma glanced out the windows as he did so. “Looks like the storm stopped, finally.”

“Mmm.” Nagisa agreed absentmindedly as the two walked upstairs. “It’ll be nice to be able to go out again tomorrow.”

In comfortable silence, the two made their ways upstairs as Nagisa lead the two into the master bedroom. Grabbing his PJs, Nagisa turned back to Karma. “I think I put your stuff in another room, but if you want to move into here you can. I’m going to change.”

“Alright.” Karma nodded toward his luggage. “I might shower. I’m still kind of gross from the plane.”

“Feel free.” Nagisa said as he shucked his shirt into the hamper. Pointedly ignoring the wolf-whistle Karma gave him, Nagisa snorted. _Yeah, yeah._

After having switched to his PJs, Nagisa curled up and listened to the water run in the shower as he slowly started to drift off. Hearing the water cut off, Nagisa fell fully asleep as Karma slid into the bed next to him.

The next thing he knew, Nagisa found himself surrounded by his old victims as he struggled against the knives each held. One by one, they all left their mark on Nagisa, lashing out where he consciously knew where his scars were.

Each of his victims circled him, lashing out with a weapon of some kind as they lashed out. The voices that spoke were an unholy amalgamation of all their voices. “You killed us!”

Jolting up, Nagisa struggled to breathe as Karma held him in his sleep. Moving Karma’s hands and arms so he could sit up fully, Nagisa carefully crept to the edge of the bed to breathe for a few moments. The cool air wrapped around him, wicking away the fear sweat and causing Nagisa to shiver. _They’re not here, they’re not here. It’s OK._

Hearing Ranger come up to him, Nagisa let the dog push his head into his lap. Grumbling a bit, the dog let Nagisa pet over his ears as his breathing calmed down. Feeling the mattress shift behind him, Nagisa quickly glanced back to find Karma reaching out to him.

“Bad dream?” he asked as he settled around Nagisa, warmth comforting the smaller man.

“Yeah. I guess looking through the documents sent me for a bit of a loop. God, I can still see them closing in to get their revenge.” Nagisa shuddered against Karma’s warm body, curling up and tucking himself closer to drive off the feeling.

Karma wrapped his arms around Nagisa, pulling the man back as he laid the two down so Nagisa’s head rested on his chest. “I can’t imagine. When we get back, I’ll help you start to vette a few therapists. I’m sure Karasuma and the others have some idea of someone who could help.”

The warmth and comfort of Karama had Nagisa dozing on his chest. “I think that might work. I just wish it would work faster than I think it will. Because….” Trailing off, Nagisa started to shift when Karma’s arms once again held tight.

“Because what?” He asked, softly.

“Because I’m afraid that I’m going to keep accidentally pushing you away because I’m scared of everything coming back to me. I will panic and pull away and you’ll get tired of chasing me down and making me face stuff.” Nagisa struggled a bit as his breathing picked up, even as Karma moved to soothe him.

“Shhh, easy.” Running his hands gently over Nagisa’s back while keeping his touch light, Karma waited for Nagisa to get his breath back. “Nagisa. I know you’re scared. I know.”

Collapsing a bit, Nagisa felt his eyes water. “I just… I don’t know, what if I broke something that can’t be fixed?”

“Then we work around it, through it or under it. There’s a way.” Karma slid one hand into Nagisa’s hair. “What are you most scared about?”

“Right this moment? Blow-back from the company. They will have contacts from prison, and it’s likely that I’ll be putting you, my parents and everyone I care about in danger by being around them.” Nagisa sighed. “I can’t stop that.”

“No, you can’t. But, if it makes you feel any better, it looks like a majority of your old company hated the men and women who were in management.” Karma said, snorting a bit as a thought occurred to him. “It’s kind of like my office, only they somehow convinced the literal assassins to listen.”

“They threated to turn me into the authorities, and it would have been a death sentence because they’d ensure it. I’m sure the others were under similar threat. What can you do when you’ll be sent to prison and then told that if you do go that you’ll be killed? I’d be scared to leave, too.” Nagisa sighed as he felt Karma shift under him. “I can move off of you if I’m too heavy.”

Karma again snorted, pulling Nagisa close. “Hah. Nagisa, I could bench-press four times your weight.”

Nagisa snorted, reaching up to pinch at Karma’s cheek. “I’m not that small. Don’t lie.”

Karma laughed, rolling the two over so he had Nagisa pinned underneath him. “Wanna bet?”

Latching onto Karma’s body, Nagisa burrowed into his boyfriend’s shirt. “Karma?”

“Hmm?” Karma responded, shifting so the two so they were laying side-by-side.

“I don’t want to get rid of this house—I love it here. I’m also nervous to go back to Japan. It hasn’t been my home in years.” Nagisa whispered his fears into Karma’s collar. “I know that your job is in Japan, but I don’t know how we’ll deal with that.”

“It’s OK, Nagisa.” Karma said, pressing his lips to Nagisa’s temple. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Love you.” Nagisa said, moving so that he was returned to his spot on the bed.

Karma followed, pulling the blankets back up around them. “Love you, too.”


	25. Epilouge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end. Thank you for those of you who hung around, I hope you enjoyed this work. 
> 
> Thank you again to NoteInABottle for saying it was OK to base a work on theirs, and for being generally amazing about what this work turned into!  
> If you want to check out their work, A Contract Between Killers, Here's the link! : https://archiveofourown.org/works/19495276/chapters/46396114

One evening years later, Nagisa was quietly grading papers at the table, his red pen in hand, the blue and silver switchblade he’d been given by Karma on his birthday just off to the side. While he still had his ‘fangs’, Karma had pointed out how ostentatious they were. However, Nagisa had been nervous to go anywhere unarmed. They’d come to an agreement, and the switchblade kept Nagisa company anywhere he went.

Hearing the garage door open, Nagisa reached for the blade as a comfort but quickly let go once Karma came into view. He also spoke to Ranger and Hunter, who were napping under the table. “Family, Ranger, Hunter. Family.” The dogs put their heads back down and resumed their nap as Nagisa grinned when Karma navigated to him, and put his arms around his waist. “I hate morons who block my legislation.”

Laughing gently, Nagisa put down the pen he’d been grading papers with and leaned into the familiar warm embrace. “This is a new development?”

“Yes. My hatred has fallen to new depths. Save me, Professor.” Karma nuzzled Nagisa. “Oh wait, you’re short enough to be a student, are you sure you’re the teacher?”

Snapping his head back with enough force to hurt, Nagisa felt Karma jerk as the back of Nagisa’s scalp collided with his chin. “Yes.”

“OK, OK. Just ask me to square up next time.” Karma said, sliding his hand down to Nagisa’s to entangle them together. Their wedding rings shimmered brightly next to each other and Nagisa started to play with them gently. Clasping their hands tight together, Karma carefully pressed his cheek to the top of Nagisa’s head. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Pausing in a moment to look up and admire his husband, Nagisa smiled. A lot had gone their way since the two had cuddled up at their vacation home in Canada. Nagisa had started both his college and career path by becoming both a student and a TA at his college. While he’d found it difficult to adjust at first, therapy and a steady support system of friends and family had given way to a much healthier, much happier ex-assassin. A staunch boyfriend had also brought back more of the man who Nagisa had thought was lost for good under the blood he’d taken. Karma—for his part—had continued to gain respect as both a politician and as a prominent semi-professional boxer. Moving up in both worlds, Karma still preferred Nagisa to most anyone else.

“Just think, soon enough we’ll be headed out on vacation. Now, I need to get these papers finished.” Nagisa said, turning his gaze back to the pile of ungraded essays. 

“Fine.” Karma let go. “Can we spar in an hour?”

“After dinner, I actually had a plan.” Nagisa said, putting his pen down for a moment and taking a deep breath before asking his next question. “Are you still willing to help me reclaim my scars?”

Karma gently reached down, taking Nagisa’s shoulders in his hands. “Would you mind looking at me to ask that?”

Turning shyly, Nagisa lifted his gaze to meet his husbands before repeating the question. “Please help me reclaim my scars. I think I’m finally ready.” Reaching for his switch blade, he held it out to Karma.

Love and lust sprung into the red-heads eyes as he took it. “Let’s start now.” Holding out his hand, he waited for his partner to take it.

Taking it, the blue haired man followed his lover to their room. “Let’s. I’ll finish that later.”

Leaving the unimportant behind, the two made their way to their room, secure in each other and the world they’d inhabited. The cold was behind them, and they were finally at home.


End file.
